DISCOVERIES

ater could be more widespread on the Moon than previously thought. New readings from NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) indicate that molecular water (HO) is present in the Clavius crater, one of the largest craters on the Moon. This discovery is important because water was thought to be present on the Moon only in the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles. Although Clavius is in the southern hemisphere at a relatively high latitude, its interior is exposed to sunlight. Since it seems that water can survive at or near the lunar surface here, it implies that water may be much more widely distributed across the lunar