Japan's AKARI Space Telescope Detects Water in a Number of Asteroids

[Judi Lynn]

December 27, 2018 Doug Messier



Figure 1: An artist’s illustration of the near-infrared spectroscopic observation of
asteroids with the infrared satellite AKARI. By using a space-borne telescope,
the team was able to successfully detect the presence of water in many asteroids.


TOKYO (JAXA PR) — Using the infrared satellite AKARI, a Japanese research team has detected the existence of water in the form of hydrated minerals in a number of asteroids for the first time. This discovery will contribute to our understanding of the distribution of water in our solar system, the evolution of asteroids, and the origin of water on Earth.

The findings were made by the team led by the Project Assistant Professor Fumihiko Usui (Graduate School of Science, Kobe University), the Associate Senior Researcher Sunao Hasegawa, the Aerospace Project Research Associate Takafumi Ootsubo (Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Professor Emeritus Takashi Onaka (Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo). The results were published on December 17 in the online Advanced Access edition of Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan.

Our Earth is an aqua-planet, and is the only planet in our solar system where the presence of water on the planet surface has been confirmed. We are, however, not yet sure how our Earth acquired water. Recent studies have shown that other celestial bodies in our solar system have, or used to have, water in some form.

Asteroids are considered to be one of the candidates that brought water to Earth. Note that the liquid water is not flowing on the surface of asteroids, but water is retained in asteroids as hydrated minerals, which were produced by chemical reactions of water and anhydrous rocks that occurred inside the asteroids, that is, aqueous alteration. Hydrated minerals are stable even above the sublimation temperature of water ice. Thus, by looking for hydrated minerals, we can investigate whether asteroids have water.

More:
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2018/12/27/japans-akari-space-telescope-detects-water-number-asteroids/

[cstanleytech]

1. Not really surprised to be honest as its almost a given that there would be some water

on varies asteroids.
Unfortunately it means little until we can develop easier methods of getting into space as well as faster methods of traveling from one planet to another in a more reasonable time frame.