Polar caps on the Moon

Abstract The Moon very likely has polar caps, but not as conspicuous as the Earth or Mars; the Moon’s caps must be hidden under the surface. The southern polar cap is probably more aquiferous than the northern one. Our indication of ground water at the poles has been obtained by a remote sensing method. We use the gravity aspects, namely the combed strike angles, derived from a global gravity field model of the Moon (now providing the ground resolution ∼10 km already sufficient for this purpose). We cannot estimate the absolute amount of the lunar water, only the contrast between the polar areas and the other regions; the contrast is high, statistically significant – to 8 times more groundwater at the poles. For the southern polar zone, we confirm the results achieved by others, and we do it in a completely independent way. The lunar water is necessary for future permanent human missions on the Moon, like Artemis; they will start near the southern pole. Thus, our findings would have immediate applications. Observe and download : https://www.asu.cas.cz/~jklokocn/MOON25_supplements/

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Publication Details

Journal
Astrophysics and Space Science
Published
2025-07-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-025-04457-0
Primary Topic
Planetary Science and Exploration
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Polar caps on the Moon

Jaroslav Klokočník, Aleš Bezděk, Jan Kostelecký
Astrophysics and Space Science
Planetary Science and Exploration
article

Polar caps on the Moon

Jaroslav Klokočník, Aleš Bezděk, Jan Kostelecký
article en

Abstract

Abstract The Moon very likely has polar caps, but not as conspicuous as the Earth or Mars; the Moon’s caps must be hidden under the surface. The southern polar cap is probably more aquiferous than the northern one. Our indication of ground water at the poles has been obtained by a remote sensing method. We use the gravity aspects, namely the combed strike angles, derived from a global gravity field model of the Moon (now providing the ground resolution ∼10 km already sufficient for this purpose). We cannot estimate the absolute amount of the lunar water, only the contrast between the polar areas and the other regions; the contrast is high, statistically significant – to 8 times more groundwater at the poles. For the southern polar zone, we confirm the results achieved by others, and we do it in a completely independent way. The lunar water is necessary for future permanent human missions on the Moon, like Artemis; they will start near the southern pole. Thus, our findings would have immediate applications. Observe and download : https://www.asu.cas.cz/~jklokocn/MOON25_supplements/

Astrophysics and Space ScienceVol. 370(7)
VSB - Technical University of Ostrava (CZ), Czech Academy of Sciences, Astronomical Institute (CZ), Research Institute of Geodesy, Topography and Cartography (CZ)
Akademie Věd České Republiky
Openalex Percentile: Top 90%
Planetary Science and Exploration
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Polar caps on the Moon — Jaroslav Klokočník, Aleš Bezděk, et al. · Astrophysics and Space Science (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS