- A brand new research utilizing information from NASA’s Juno mission reveals Jupiter’s moon Europa generates roughly 1,000 tons of oxygen each 24 hours.
- That a lot oxygen is enough for 1,000,000 individuals to breathe each day, although it’s nonetheless much less oxygen than scientists thought was on Europa.
- The upcoming Europa Clipper mission, launching this yr, will arrive at Jupiter in 2030 and use its 9 scientific devices to review the moon’s habitability.
1,000 tons of oxygen each 24 hours
Europa is an ice-covered ocean moon of Jupiter. Ionized (charged) particles from Jupiter influence the moon’s icy floor, splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. However precisely how a lot oxygen is in Europa’s skinny environment has been a matter of debate. On March 4, 2024, a brand new research from a global staff of scientists with NASA’s Juno mission said they’ve decided the speed of oxygen manufacturing on Europa to be about 1,000 tons each 24 hours. That’s sufficient oxygen for 1,000,000 individuals to breathe each day, but nonetheless lower than earlier research had estimated. The consequence additionally means much less oxygen may make its manner into the ocean beneath the floor, presumably affecting habitability.
The researchers published their peer-reviewed ends in Nature Astronomy on March 4, 2024.
Europa’s skinny environment
Europa is the smallest Galilean moon, in regards to the dimension of our personal moon, but it surely does have an environment … form of. It’s extraordinarily skinny and tenuous, and scientists typically confer with it as an exosphere. The thinnest, outermost a part of Earth’s environment can be known as the exosphere. On Europa, it’s primarily oxygen with traces of water vapor and hydrogen. Not like Earth, nonetheless, the oxygen isn’t produced principally by vegetation on the floor. It’s Jupiter’s ionized (charged) particles hitting the desolate, icy floor that creates oxygen. As lead creator Jamey Szalay from Princeton College in New Jersey explained it:
Europa is like an ice ball slowly dropping its water in a flowing stream. Besides, on this case, the stream is a fluid of ionized particles swept round Jupiter by its extraordinary magnetic subject. When these ionized particles influence Europa, they break up the water-ice molecule by molecule on the floor to provide hydrogen and oxygen. In a manner, your complete ice shell is being constantly eroded by waves of charged particles washing up upon it.
Oxygen estimates
So, how a lot oxygen do these impacts generate? Earlier estimates ranged from a couple of kilos to over 2,000 kilos per second (over 1,000 kilograms per second). However the brand new evaluation of information from Juno suggests the manufacturing price of oxygen on Europa is towards the decrease finish: about 26 kilos per second (12 kilograms per second), or 1,000 tons each 24 hours.
The researchers derived the estimated oxygen manufacturing utilizing information from Juno’s Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) instrument. JADE measured the outgassing of hydrogen and oxygen from Europa’s floor because of the ionized particles hitting it. JADE recognized each the hydrogen and oxygen ions created within the bombardment course of.
Juno made the measurements when it flew inside 220 miles (354 km) of Europa on September 29, 2022, at 2:36 p.m. PDT. Szalay stated:
Again when NASA’S Galileo mission flew by Europa, it opened our eyes to the complicated and dynamic interplay Europa has with its setting. Juno introduced a brand new functionality to instantly measure the composition of charged particles shed from Europa’s environment, and we couldn’t wait to additional peek backstage of this thrilling water world. However what we didn’t understand is that Juno’s observations would give us such a good constraint on the quantity of oxygen produced in Europa’s icy floor.
Implications for all times at Europa
Despite the fact that Europa’s environment is skinny, it has implications for doable life in Europa’s subsurface ocean. That’s as a result of scientists assume a few of that oxygen could make its manner by way of the ice shell and into the ocean itself.
So the brand new outcomes imply there can also be much less oxygen within the ocean to assist life. Nonetheless, that oxygen hasn’t been instantly measured but. Subsequently, the precise quantity remains to be largely unknown. Plus, moreover vegetation, there are many organisms on Earth that don’t require oxygen. In truth, some are even poisoned by it.
What we do know to this point is that Europa’s ocean might be just like oceans on Earth. Salty, however possibly not too salty. There can also be hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor that would present warmth and vitamins. NASA’s Cassini mission discovered proof for such vents in Enceladus’ ocean.
Europa Clipper launches this yr
NASA’s Europa Clipper will launch this yr and arrive at Europa in 2030. With its 9 scientific devices, it would research Europa nearer than ever. That features measuring the quantity of oxygen on Europa. Scott Bolton is Juno’s principal investigator from the Southwest Analysis Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas. He stated:
Our potential to fly near the Galilean satellites throughout our prolonged mission allowed us to start out tackling a breadth of science, together with some distinctive alternatives to contribute to the investigation of Europa’s habitability. And we’re not finished but. Extra moon flybys and the primary exploration of Jupiter’s shut ring and polar environment are but to come back.
In September 2023, scientists reported that frozen deposits of carbon dioxide on Europa’s floor possible got here from its ocean. The presence of carbon dioxide within the ocean would have optimistic implications for the potential for life.
Backside line: Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission stated there’s sufficient oxygen in Europa’s environment to assist 1 million individuals a day. But that’s lower than they anticipated. The discovering may have implications for doable life in Europa’s ocean.
Source: Oxygen production from dissociation of Europa’s water-ice surface
Read more: Did Europa’s carbon dioxide come from its ocean?
Read more: Europa’s icy crust rides on warm ocean currents
