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Moon Water Differs from Earth Water

月亮上的水跟地球上的不同

The Apollo moon missions ended almost 40 years ago. But for lunar scientists, they're gifts that keep on giving. Researchers studying rocks brought back by astronauts have found that the moon's scarce water has a different chemical signature than Earth water. Which leads to the conclusion that the water probably came from comets. The study appears in the journal Nature Geoscience.

阿波罗登月任务大约在40年前就已完成。但对月球科学家而言，此次登月一直不断地带给他们新的研究成果。研究人员通过研究宇航员从月球上带回的岩石发现月球上那少得可怜的水其化学成分跟地球上的水不同的。因此，他们得出这样的结论：月球上的水可能来自彗星。这项研究发表在《自然地球科学》期刊上。

The researchers used what's called an ion microscope to compare the amount of normal hydrogen in the moon rocks to the amount of the hydrogen isotope deuterium, which carries an extra neutron. They found deuterium at higher levels than it's found in Earth water — but at levels similar to the comets Hale-Bopp, Hyakutake and Halley. Which suggests comets deposited water on the ancient moon, shortly after its formation four-and-a-half billion years ago.

研究人员利用所谓的离子显微镜来比较月球岩石中正常的氢元素含量及同位素氘的含量，元素氘比氢多带一个中子。他们发现，同地球上的水相比，氘的含量更高——但同海尔·波普彗星、哈库塔克彗星和哈雷上的水有着相似的平。这表明,在45亿年前月球刚刚形成其构造后不久，彗星就在古月球上留下了水。

The finding could also explain a mystery of water on Earth — how the oceans got here. Because if comets battered the moon, they probably hit the Earth, too. Ocean water does have more deuterium than water in the Earth's mantle. Maybe, the researchers say, that's because the oceans have an extra dose of melted comet ice.

这一发现也可以解释地球上水的奥秘——海洋是如何在地球上形成的。因为如果彗星曾重重撞击过月球，那它们很可能也造访过地球，海洋里的水的确比地幔的水含有更多氘。研究人员说，也许这是因为海洋有着彗星上的冰融化而来的水。

—Christopher Intagliata

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