Hubble finds water vapor on Jupiter’s icy moon Ganymede, the biggest moon in the Solar System and a possible spot for extraterrestrial life
- NASA has confirmed that water vapor is on Jupiter’s icy moon, Ganymede
- Researchers analyzed data taken by the Hubble Space Telescope 20 years apart
- Experts believe Ganymede’s temperature near its equator ‘becomes sufficiently warm that the icy surface releases some small amounts of water molecules’
- Ganymede’s surface temperature varies and around noon, it may become warm enough so the icy surface releases trace amounts of water molecules
NASA has confirmed that researchers have discovered the first evidence of water vapor on Jupiter’s icy moon, Ganymede after researchers analyzed data taken by the Hubble Space Telescope 20 years apart.
Experts looked at ultraviolet observations of Ganymede taken in 1998 and 2010 by Hubble’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and compared them to observations made in 2018.
The 1998 UV images from STIS showed bands of the moon’s atmosphere that were similar to Earth’s aurora. There was a discrepancy in the earlier observations that at the time, scientists thought was due to higher concentrations of atomic oxygen.
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NASA has confirmed that researchers have discovered the first evidence of water vapor on Jupiter’s icy moon, Ganymede after researchers analyzed data taken 20 years apart
Experts looked at ultraviolet observations of Ganymede taken in 1998 and 2010 by Hubble’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and compared them to observations made in 2018
Researchers believe the temperature near Ganymede’s equator ‘becomes sufficiently warm that the icy surface releases some small amounts of water molecules’
Experts looked at ultraviolet observations of Ganymede taken in 1998 and 2010 by Hubble’s (pictured) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and compared them to observations made in 2018 by Hubble’s Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
Upon looking at the 2018 UV observations taken by Hubble’s Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), the researchers did not find much atomic oxygen in Ganymede’s atmosphere, which means there was another reason for the differences in the UV aurora images.
Now, they believe that the temperature near Ganymede’s equator ‘becomes sufficiently warm that the icy surface releases some small amounts of water molecules,’ the European Space Agency said in a statement.
‘So far only the O2 had been observed,’ the study’s lead author, Lorenz Roth of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, said in a statement released by NASA.
‘This is produced when charged particles erode the ice surface. The water vapor that we have now measured originates from ice sublimation caused by the thermal escape of H2O vapor from warm icy regions.’
‘Ganymede’s surface temperature varies strongly throughout the day, and around noon near the equator it may become sufficiently warm that the icy surface releases some small amounts of water molecules,’ ESA added in their statement.
‘In fact, the perceived differences between the UV images are directly correlated with where water would be expected in the moon’s atmosphere.’
The Hubble Space Telescope is partnership between NASA and the ESA.
The ESA’s upcoming JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission is set to launch next year and arrive at Jupiter in 2029, with the possibility it incorporates the latest findings from Hubble into its mission, Roth added.
‘Our results can provide the JUICE instrument teams with valuable information that may be used to refine their observation plans to optimize the use of the spacecraft,’ added Roth.
As part of JUICE’s mission, it will study the largest planet in the solar system, as well as three of its largest moons, ‘with particular emphasis on Ganymede as a planetary body and potential habitable world,’ the ESA added.
The findings were published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The largest of Jupiter’s moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, are known as Galilean moons, after being discovered by Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in January 1610.
Ganymede is not only Jupiter’s largest moon, but the largest moon in our solar system, and the only moon with its own magnetic field.
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