Carbon suggests favorable environment for life in underground oceans
Ever since humans gazed into the night sky, we have been thinking about life beyond Earth. Scientists now know that conditions suitable for life may exist in some places in the solar system. One of them is Jupiter‘s moon Europa is a fascinating world with an underground ocean of salty liquid water, perhaps twice as much as all of Earth’s oceans combined. But scientists had not confirmed whether Europa’s oceans contained biologically essential chemicals, especially carbon, the universal building block of life as we know it. Now, james webb space telescope, astronomers discovered carbon on Europa’s surface that likely originated in this ocean. This discovery suggests a potentially habitable environment in Europe’s oceans.
NASA’s Webb Space Telescope discovers carbon source on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
Jupiter’s moon Europa is one of the few worlds in the solar system where conditions suitable for life may exist. Previous studies have shown that beneath that water-ice crust is a salty ocean of liquid water with a rocky seafloor. But planetary scientists had not confirmed whether the ocean contained the chemicals necessary for life, especially carbon.
Astronomers are using data from NASAThe James Webb Space Telescope has identified carbon dioxide in certain areas of Europe’s icy surface. Analysis shows that this carbon likely originated in the underground ocean and was not brought in by meteorites or other external sources. Moreover, it was deposited on a geologically recent timescale. This discovery has important implications for the potential habitability of Europe’s seas.
“On Earth, life prefers chemical diversity. The more diversity, the better. We live a carbon-based life. Understanding the chemistry of Europa’s oceans” “This will help us determine whether the ocean is hostile to life as we know it or whether it is suitable for life,” said NASA, Greenbelt, Maryland. said Geronimo Villanueva of Goddard Space Flight Center. Consists of his two separate papers explaining the findings.
“We now think we have observational evidence that the carbon found on Europa’s surface came from the ocean. That’s not trivial. Carbon is a biologically essential element. ” added Samantha Trumbo of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, lead author of a second paper that analyzed these data.
NASA plans to launch its Europa Clipper spacecraft in October 2024, and will fly close to Europa dozens of times to further investigate whether conditions are suitable for life.
Connection between the earth’s surface and the ocean
Webb discovered that the richest carbon dioxide on Europa’s surface is in an area called the Tara region, which is a geologically young area of entirely resurfaced landforms known as “chaotic terrain.” did. It is possible that the surface ice was broken and there was an exchange of material between the underground ocean and the ice surface.
“Previous observations show that hubble space telescope Please show evidence of salt of marine origin in Tara province,” Trumbo explained. “We now find that carbon dioxide is highly concentrated there as well. We think this suggests that the ultimate source of carbon is probably in the inland ocean.”
“Scientists are debating the extent to which Europa’s oceans are connected to the surface, and I think that question was a big driving force behind European exploration,” Villanueva said. “This suggests that we may be able to learn some fundamental things about the composition of the ocean even before drilling through the ice to get a complete picture.”
Both teams used data from the Integral Field Unit of Webb’s Near Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSpec) to identify carbon dioxide. This instrument mode provides spectra with a resolution of 200 x 200 miles (320 x 320 kilometers) on Europa’s 1,944-mile-diameter surface, allowing astronomers to determine where specific chemicals are present.
Carbon dioxide is not stable on Europa’s surface. Scientists therefore say it was likely sourced on a geologically recent timescale, a conclusion supported by its concentration in areas of younger terrain.
“These observations took only a few minutes of the observatory’s time,” said Heidi Hammel, a Webb interdisciplinary scientist and the Association of Universities for Astronomical Research, who is leading Webb’s Solar System Cycle 1 Guaranteed Time Observations. said. “Even in this short period of time, we were able to do some really big science. This work gives us the first hint of all the amazing solar system science we can do with the Webb. .”
looking for feathers
Villanueva’s team also looked for evidence of water vapor escaping from Europa’s surface. Researchers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope reported preliminary detections of plumes in 2013, 2016, and 2016. 2017. However, conclusive evidence was difficult to find.
Because the new Webb data showed no evidence of plume activity, Villanueva’s team was able to set a hard upper limit on the rate of material that could be released. However, the researchers stressed that the lack of detection does not rule out the possibility of a plume.
“There’s always the possibility that these plumes are variable and only visible at certain times. We can say with 100% confidence that when we made these observations with Mr. Webb, All we can say is that no plumes were detected,” Hummel said.
These discoveries could help NASA’s European Clipper mission and ESA’s mission (european space agency) Future Jupiter Icy Satellite Explorer (JUICE).
The two papers will be published in the journal Science on September 21st.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb unravels the mysteries of our solar system, looks to distant worlds around other stars, and explores the mysterious structure and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA and its partners ESA (European Space Agency) and Canadian Space Agency.