For the primary time, SwRI scientists used the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) instrument to definitively detect oxygen and hydrogen within the environment of considered one of Jupiter’s largest moons, Europa. NASA’s Juno spacecraft, utilizing its SwRI-developed instrument, made the measurements throughout a 2022 flyby of Europa. Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Juno spacecraft has offered essential information on the charged particles in Europa’s environment, revealing insights into its potential for supporting life. This research, involving in-situ measurements of oxygen and hydrogen, brings new understanding to Europa’s environmental circumstances and its subsurface ocean’s habitability.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft has instantly measured charged oxygen and hydrogen molecules from the environment of considered one of Jupiter’s largest moons, Europa. In response to a brand new research co-authored by SwRI scientists and led by Princeton College, these observations present key constraints on the potential oxygenation of its subsurface ocean.
“These findings have direct implications on the potential habitability of Europa,” stated Juno Principal Investigator Dr. Scott Bolton of SwRI, a co-author of the research. “This research gives the primary direct in-situ measurement of water elements current in Europa’s environment, giving us a slim vary that would help habitability.”
Juno’s Europa Flyby
In 2022, Juno accomplished a flyby of Europa, coming as shut as 352 kilometers to the moon. The SwRI-developed Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) instrument aboard Juno detected important quantities of charged molecular oxygen and hydrogen misplaced from the environment.
“For the primary time, we’ve been capable of definitively detect hydrogen and oxygen with in-situ measurements and additional affirm that Europa’s environment is made primarily of hydrogen and oxygen molecules,” stated SwRI Employees Scientist and co-author Dr. Robert Ebert.
This illustration reveals charged particles from Jupiter impacting Europa’s floor, splitting frozen water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen molecules. Scientists imagine a few of these newly created oxygen gases may migrate towards the moon’s subsurface ocean, as depicted within the inset picture. Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SWRI/PU
The supply of those molecules is regarded as water ice on Europa’s floor. Jupiter’s rampant radiation breaks H2O’s molecular bonds, abandoning oxygen and hydrogen. The heavier oxygen molecules stay extra constrained to the floor, or near-surface environment, whereas the lighter-weight hydrogen predominately escapes into the environment and past. Oxygen produced within the ice is both misplaced from the environment and/or sequestered within the floor. Oxygen retained in Europa’s ice may fit its method to its subsurface ocean as a doable supply of metabolic power.
Europa’s Oxygen Manufacturing and Implications
“Europa’s ice shell absorbs radiation, defending the ocean beneath. This absorption additionally produces oxygen inside the ice, so in a method, the ice shell acts as Europa’s lung, offering a possible oxygen supply for the ocean,” stated Princeton College Analysis Scholar Dr. Jamey Szalay, the research’s lead writer. “We put slim constraints on the whole oxygen manufacturing at Europa at the moment at round 12 kg per second. Earlier than Juno, earlier estimates ranged from just a few kg per second to over 1,000 kg per second. The findings unambiguously show oxygen is constantly produced within the floor, only a good bit decrease than we anticipated.”
“We designed JADE to measure the charged particles that create Jupiter’s auroras,” stated SwRI Employees Scientist and co-author Dr. Frederic Allegrini. “Flybys of Europa weren’t a part of the first Juno mission. JADE was designed to work in a high-radiation surroundings however not essentially Europa’s surroundings, which is consistently bombarded with excessive ranges of radiation. Nonetheless, the instrument carried out fantastically.”
For the primary time, SwRI scientists used the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) instrument to definitively detect oxygen and hydrogen within the environment of considered one of Jupiter’s largest moons, Europa. NASA’s Juno spacecraft, utilizing its SwRI-developed instrument, made the measurements throughout a 2022 flyby of Europa. Credit score: NASA/JPL/College of Arizona
The brand new measurements contribute to a better understanding of Europa and its surroundings, open the door for newer, extra exact fashions. The research’s new estimation of how a lot oxygen is produced inside Europa’s floor, as an illustration, may inform future analysis associated to its subsurface ocean and potential habitability. As these observations present the primary charged particle composition measurements inside Europa’s neighborhood, they supply an vital new window into the moons’ complicated interplay with its surroundings.
“Europa is a captivating object as a result of scientists are assured a liquid ocean exists in its inside,” Ebert stated. “Water is vital for the existence of life and might be present in or on objects with various traits. Europa is an effective place to seek for water inside our photo voltaic system.”
For extra on this analysis, see Shocking Oxygen Insights From Europa’s Shut Flyby.
Reference: “Oxygen manufacturing from dissociation of Europa’s water-ice floor” by J. R. Szalay, F. Allegrini, R. W. Ebert, F. Bagenal, S. J. Bolton, S. Fatemi, D. J. McComas, A. Pontoni, J. Saur, H. T. Smith, D. F. Strobel, S. D. Vance, A. Vorburger and R. J. Wilson, 4 March 2024, Nature Astronomy.
DOI: 10.1038/s41550-024-02206-x
