Space dust, asteroids and comets can account for all water on Mercury
Mercury harbors water ice in the shadows of the steepest craters around its poles. But it is unclear how those water molecules ended up on Mercury. Now a new simulation by scientists from the University of Groningen and SRON Netherlands Institute for Sp ace Research shows that incoming minor bodies such as asteroids, comets and dust particles carry enough water to account for all the ice sheets present. The study could form the basis for new research on water in exoplanetary systems. Publication in Icarus on April 19th.
![.](/sciencelinx/nieuws/2022/04/20220419-mercurius1.jpg)
Dust particles
We have known for a few decades that Mercury harbors water. It seems obvious that this can only be in the form of water vapor. After all, the planet has no atmosphere, which rules out a liquid due to a lack of pressure. And Mercury is almost three times closer to the Sun than the Earth is, so water ice doesn't seem likely either. But the planet has steep craters at high latitudes, which contain troughs that are forever captured in darkness, only illuminated by the dimly glowing band of the Milky Way against the backdrop of an eternal black sky. These eerie places are home to ice sheets many meters thick, on the closest planet to the Sun. Now the question remains: how did those water molecules end up on Mercury?
First author Kateryna Frantseva (SRON/RUG) has developed an algorithm that simulates meteorite impacts in the form of asteroids, comets and interplanetary dust particles. It turns out that over the course of a billion years these bodies bring enough water to Mercury’s surface to explain the amount that we currently see.
![Cartoons: Anastasiia Kriuchevska](/sciencelinx/nieuws/2022/04/20220419-mercurius2.jpg)
Heaviest load
Frantseva: 'We cannot rule out endogenous sources of water such as volcanic activity and outgassing from the crust and mantle, but this shows that we don't need anything other than impacts from minor bodies to explain the water we see on Mercury.' The simulation shows that interplanetary dust particles carry by far the heaviest load, with over ten thousand kilograms per year. In comparison, asteroids and comets deliver yearly each about a thousand kilograms.
The simulation provides a basis for new theoretical models for water delivery to exoplanets, planets outside our Solar System. These can be compared to future observations, for example from the recently launched James Webb telescope, in which astronomers might be able to spot water signatures in the spectrum of light that asteroid belts in exoplanetary systems emit while re-radiating light from their host star.
Reference: Kateryna Frantseva,David Nesvorný, Michael Mueller, Floris F.S.van der Tak, Inge Loesten Kate and Petr Pokorný: Exogenous delivery of water to Mercury. Icarus, 19 April 2022 (first online 16 March).
First author Kateryna Frantseva is a Ukrainian scientist based in The Netherlands. She is part of a network of Ukrainian volunteers working in Dutch academia that support their home country. To help out, you can donate online.
Text: SRON
Last modified: | 27 June 2024 3.55 p.m. |
More news
-
17 July 2024
Veni-grants for ten researchers in Groningen
The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded a Veni grant of up to €320,000 each to ten researchers of the University of Groningen and the UMCG. The Veni grants are designed for outstanding researchers who have recently gained a PhD.
-
15 July 2024
Funding for RUG researchers from National Growth Fund programme Circular Plastics NL
For research on making plastics circular, Professors Patrizio Raffa and Katja Loos together receive about 1.2 million euros from the National Growth Fund programme Circular Plastics NL.
-
09 July 2024
NWO Open Technology funding for improving quality 3D printing technology
Dr. Liangliang Cheng receives a NWO OPT grant of EUR 950,000 for research on safer application of metals in 3D printing technology.