Jupitors io moon energy source8/30/2023 Jupiter's true colors pop in new images from NASA's Juno mission NASA's Juno probe will peer beneath the icy crust of Jupiter's moon Europa Juno spacecraft snaps gorgeous photo of Jupiter's atmosphere, 2 big moons The September 2022 flyby of Europa generated the first-ever 3D observation of the icy world's frozen shell. The flyby of Ganymede in 2021 produced a flurry of papers on the moon's surface, magnetic field, interior and interaction with Jupiter's magnetosphere. "With each close flyby, we have been able to obtain a wealth of new information."Īlthough Juno's sensors were primarily designed to study the gaseous giant, they have been delivering outstanding results also during the examination of the Jovian moons, Bolton added. "The team is really excited to have Juno's extended mission include the study of Jupiter's moons," Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio said in the statement. The observations of Io are part of Juno's extended mission, which commenced in 2021. Although Io is unlikely to host life, unlike Ganymede and Europa, scientists are still eager to get a detailed glimpse of this moon, which is the most tectonically active body in the entire solar system. Some of the lava geysers erupt into heights of dozens of miles, or kilometers, according to NASA. Io's surface, on the contrary, is covered in lakes of lava spouting from hundreds of volcanoes scattered on the moon's surface. This means Jupiter spins nearly upright so that the planet, as well as Europa and Jupiter’s other dozens of moons, do not have seasons as extreme as other planets do.Io is very different from the ice-encrusted moons Ganymede and Europa, which are both believed to hide oceans of water underneath their frozen surfaces, which, scientists think, might harbor primitive forms of life. Jupiter’s equator (and the orbital plane of its moons) are tilted with respect to Jupiter’s orbital path around the Sun by only 3 degrees (Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees). Jupiter takes about 4,333 Earth days (or about 12 Earth years) to orbit the Sun (a Jovian year). How long is a year there? What about a day?Įuropa orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days and is locked by gravity to Jupiter, so the same hemisphere of the moon always faces the planet. If it can be demonstrated that life formed independently in two places around the same star, it would then be reasonable to suspect that life springs up in the universe fairly easily once the necessary ingredients are present, and that life might be found throughout our galaxy and the universe. If we eventually find some form of life at Europa (or Mars or Enceladus for that matter), it may look like microbes, or maybe something more complex. These “extremophile” life forms give scientists clues about how life may be able to survive beneath Europa’s ice shell. On Earth, life forms have been found thriving near subterranean volcanoes, deep-sea vents, and other extreme environments. Life as we know it seems to have three main requirements: liquid water, the appropriate chemical elements, and an energy source.Īstrobiologists – scientists who study the origin, evolution, and future of life in the universe – believe Europa has abundant water and the right chemical elements, but an energy source on Europa has been difficult to confirm. You know that possible internal ocean we just mentioned? It’s very important for the possibility of life on Europa. While evidence for an internal ocean is strong, its presence awaits confirmation by a future mission. Unlike Earth, however, Europa’s ocean lies below a shell of ice probably 10 to 15 miles (15 to 25 kilometers) thick, and has an estimated depth of 40 to 100 miles (60 to 150 kilometers). Like our planet, Europa is thought to have an iron core, a rocky mantle, and an ocean of salty water. That’s also why Jupiter’s four largest moons, including Europa, are known as Galillean moons. His telescopes and observations were integral to our new understanding of the solar system. It’s been a minute since we talked about Galileo, but it’s not surprising that he was the first to record and name Europa. Our old friend Galileo Galilei discovered Europa on Jan.
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