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NASA’s Webb Telescope Finds Presence Of Carbon Source On Jupiter’s Moon Europa

Using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery: the presence of carbon dioxide in a distinct region on the surface of Jupiter’s moon, Europa.

Unearthing The Secrets of Europa: Evidence Of Carbon Suggests Potential for Life

  • Several worlds in our solar system could potentially contain conditions suitable for life, including Europa.
  • Europa has a water-ice crust with a salty, liquid ocean beneath it. The ocean sits on a rocky seafloor.
  • Scientists had not confirmed if this ocean contained life-sustaining chemicals, especially carbon.
  • Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers detected carbon dioxide in a specific region on Europa’s icy surface.
  • The analysis suggests the carbon originated from the subsurface ocean instead of meteorites or other external sources.
  • The carbon deposit occurred on a geologically recent timescale, indicating implications for the potential habitability of Europa’s ocean.
  • Geronimo Villanueva from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, lead author of one of the reports, emphasised the significance of understanding Europa’s ocean chemistry to ascertain its potential for life.
  • Samantha Trumbo from Cornell University, lead author of the second report, stated that the observational evidence suggests that the carbon on Europa’s surface came from the ocean, highlighting the importance of carbon as a biologically essential element.
  • NASA is scheduled to launch the Europa Clipper spacecraft in October 2024. This mission aims to conduct multiple close flybys of Europa, gathering crucial data to deepen our understanding of its potential for hosting life.
  • James Webb Space Telescope has made an interesting discovery on Europa’s surface.
  • The highest concentration of carbon dioxide is found in Tara Regio, a region known as “chaos terrain.”
  • This area is geologically young and has seen significant surface ice disruption.
  • It is believed that there has been material exchange between the subsurface ocean and the icy surface.
  • Previous observations from the Hubble Space Telescope revealed evidence of ocean-derived salt in Tara Regio.
  • Now, high concentrations of carbon dioxide are also observed in the same region.
  • This suggests that the carbon’s origin may be traced back to the internal ocean.
  • There is ongoing debate among scientists about the connection between Europa’s ocean and its surface.
  • These findings hint at the possibility of understanding the ocean’s composition even before drilling through the ice to examine it fully.

Also Read | How Moon Shaped Life On Earth, Explained

High Concentrations Of CO2 And The Connection Between Europa’s Ocean And Surface

  • Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) and its integral field unit were used by both teams to identify carbon dioxide on Europa.
  • The NIRSpec provides detailed data with a resolution of 200 x 200 miles on Europa’s surface.
  • Europa has a diameter of 1,944 miles.
  • This high-resolution data helps scientists find where certain chemicals are present.
  • Carbon dioxide is not stable on Europa.
  • Scientists believe it appeared there recently due to geological activities, as evidenced by its concentration in a young terrain area.
  • Heidi Hammel from the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy conducted these observations in just a few minutes.
  • Her work is part of Webb’s Cycle 1 Guaranteed Time Observations of the solar system.
  • This short observation period already yielded significant scientific results.
  • These findings hint at the potential for more significant solar system discoveries using the Webb telescope.

Also Read | The Challenge Of Space Exploration: Why Missions Often Fail

Search For Water Vapour Plumes On Europa

  • Villanueva’s team conducted a study to find traces of a water vapour plume on Europa’s surface.
  • Previous tentative detections of plumes were reported using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 2013, 2016, and 2017.
  • Confirming the presence of these plumes has proven challenging.
  • The recent data from the Webb telescope showed no signs of such plumes.
  • This allowed Villanueva’s team to set a maximum limit on the amount of material that could potentially be ejected from the plumes.
  • The team clarified that failing to detect a plume does not entirely dismiss its existence.
  • They suggested that these plumes might be variable, and detectable only at certain times.
  • The team confidently stated that they did not detect a plume at the time of their observation with Webb.
  • Astronomer Hammel emphasised this point.
  • The findings could contribute to NASA’s Europa Clipper mission and ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) upcoming Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE).

James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

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