Moon contains a lot of sodium. This is the first time it has been mapped using the X-ray spectrometer on the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said so. The presence of sodium was previously detected in X-rays by Chandrayaan-1's X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (C1XS). Hence the possibility of mapping the amount of sodium on the moon.
This breakthrough was revealed in a recent report published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Chandrayaan-2 has for the first time mapped sodium abundance on the Moon using CLASS (Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer). ISRO issued a statement in this regard on Friday.
The CLASS spectrometer is built at ISRO's UR Rao Satellite Center in Bangalore. It has high sensitivity and performance to accurately detect sodium levels,' the statement said. It should be noted that part of this signal may also originate from a thin veneer of sodium atoms weakly bound to lunar dust.
These types of sodium atoms can be pushed outwards from the surface by solar wind or ultraviolet radiation. If they were part of the lunar minerals, that chance was slim. A diurnal variation in surface sodium was also shown, the statement said. It provides a continuous supply of atoms to the ecosphere.
ISRO says, 'These new discoveries from Chandrayaan-2 will open a new horizon in the study of the Moon's surface-exosphere interaction. This will help us develop similar models for mercury and other materials in our solar system and beyond.