On Monday, March 4, scientists announced that they had managed to measure how much molecular oxygen (the type of oxygen we breathe on Earth) is likely present around Jupiter’s moon Europa. Although researchers have made estimates of the icy moon’s oxygen content in the past, the team says this is the first time this has been done. directly measurement of this.
Simply put, the result fell short of some previously quite high predictions. Could this mean that Europa, which is believed to harbor a large saltwater ocean beneath its icy crust, is less friendly to the emergence of life than we might hope? Or at least to life as we know it? Of course it is not, but the debate is certainly an interesting one that invites further research.
Relating to: NASA Juno spacecraft captures hints of activity on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa
According to the study, some previous estimates of Europa’s oxygen content were atomic Oxygen emissions associated with the Moon. Unlike molecular oxygen, which consists of two oxygen atoms, atomic oxygen consists of only one. The latter is the kind we can’t breathe, but scientists probably thought that figuring out how much of it was around Europa would place at least some constraints on how much breathable oxygen the moon produces overall.
This logic, in addition to several other remote observation analyses, actually placed some limits on how much of the objects were actually associated with this Jovian moon; But the new study found a way to narrow those estimates even further. Researchers reached a conclusion directly Measurement of Europa’s oxygen content, thanks to NASA’s Juno probe and some ice chemistry.
Basically, as the team explains summary of the studyIt is possible that Europa’s water ice surface crust has the potential to undergo some form of water splitting process. There are certain reactions that can convert some of Europa’s frozen water molecules into molecular hydrogen (made up of two hydrogen atoms) and molecular oxygen. And if such reactions really occurred, evidence of this would be the presence of some oxygen and hydrogen ions appearing around the moon, that is, ions that would carry electric charges. The theory was well-founded, as scientists knew that Europa’s orbit passed through one of Jupiter’s radiation belts. This belt contains a group of charged particles that could impact the moon’s surface and potentially trigger the breakdown of water.
The team explains that it was, of course, able to detect evidence of such water-splitting motion in September 2022, when Juno flies within 220 miles (354 kilometers) of Europa. The probe found hydrogen and oxygen ions that appeared to be created by “bombardment of charged particles.” According to NASA’s statementIt was then “picked up” by Jupiter’s magnetic field as it passed by the moon.
“Here we report direct observations of H2+ and O2+ pick-up ions from dissociation on Europa’s water ice surface and confirm that these species are primary atmospheric constituents,” the study says.
As for some numbers, scientists concluded that the moon’s atmosphere produces 26 pounds per second (12 kilograms per second) of molecular oxygen. They say previous estimates ranged from a few pounds per second to 2,000 pounds per second (about 900 kilograms per second). )
“When NASA’s Galileo mission flew past Europa, it opened our eyes to Europa’s complex and dynamic interaction with its environment. Juno brought a new ability to directly measure the composition of charged particles scattered from Europa’s atmosphere, and we couldn’t wait. Juno’s to take a closer look behind the curtain of this exciting aquatic world,” said study lead author Jamey Szalay of Princeton University, one of the instrument scientists. “But we didn’t realize that Juno’s observations would give us such a tight constraint on the amount of oxygen produced on Europa’s icy surface.”
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Because the value is lower than previously thought, this result yields “a narrower range to support habitability in Europa’s ocean,” the team writes in the study. The concern stems in part from the fact that this method of water production could be Europa’s way of deoxygenating its underground oasis.
But as a statement by NASA points out, there’s another way to think about it. “The icy moon Jupiter produces 1,000 tons of oxygen every 24 hours, enough for a million people to breathe for a day,” the article says. Still, would life on an exotic moon (even life as we know it) have some exotic oxygen requirements? Stay tuned for this topic.
What’s next? The team says they will go to examine another Jovian moon: Io.
The study was: published In the journal Nature Astronomy on March 4.