Spectrum Misreading: Most of the Lunar Water Detected by M³ Might Actually Be Lunar Methanol

Abstract

We have to face an important and urgent problem: even though according to spectral detection, we cannot conclude that there is much water on the Moon as the prevailing theory claims. We might have overlooked the widespread presence of lunar methanol. M 3 is unable to distinguish between hydroxyl radicals from water and hydroxyl groups from methanol because the absorption strengths of the two are all 2.9 μm, and there are no established methods to distinguish them using the 2.9 μm band. The so-called surficial water illogically appeared at lunar equator, seriously shaking the credibility of M 3 spectra data analysis. The vast quantities of hydrogen found in lunar polar craters should be hydrogen ice, which easy to confuse with water ice. The author has also made a preliminary study of the physical / chemical process chains on lunar surface.