The Jovian moon was covered in ice Europe It produces 1,000 tons of oxygen every 24 hours, enough for a million people to breathe for a day. However, scientists on NASA's Juno mission have calculated that this oxygen ratio is significantly lower than estimated by previous studies.
Published March 4 in the journal Nature Astronomy, the findings were obtained by measuring hydrogen emission from the moon's icy surface using data collected by the spacecraft's Jovian Auroral Distribution Experiment (JDE) instrument.
The authors of the paper estimated the amount of oxygen to be 12 kg/s. Previous estimates range from a few kilograms to over 1,000 kilograms per second. Scientists believe that some of the oxygen produced in this way may reach the Moon's subsurface ocean as a potential source of metabolic energy.
Europa, the moon that covers the ocean of salt water
With an equatorial diameter of 3,100 kilometers, Europa is the fourth largest of Jupiter's 95 known moons and the smallest of the four Galilean satellites. Scientists believe that a vast internal ocean of salty water is hidden beneath its icy crust and are curious about the conditions for survival beneath the surface.
It's not just water that attracts the attention of astrophysicists: the location of the Jovian moon also plays an important role in biological possibilities. Europa's orbit places it in the middle of the gas giant radiation belts. Charged or ionized particles from Jupiter bombard the icy surface, splitting water molecules in two to create oxygen that can reach the moon's ocean.
“Europa is like an ice cube that slowly loses water in a flowing stream. Except, in this case, the stream is a liquid of particles that have been ionized around Jupiter by its unusual magnetic field,” scientist Jamie Szale of Princeton University in New Jersey said in a statement. “When these ionized particles hit Europa , ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​/​​/​​ or and and​​ and​​​​​​​​​​​​ “In a sense, the entire ice sheet is constantly being eroded by waves of charged particles reaching it.”
When Juno flew by 354 kilometers from Europa on September 29, 2022, JADE detected and measured hydrogen and oxygen ions created by a bombardment of charged particles, then “picked up” by Jupiter's magnetic field as it passed the moon.
ESA presents its Jovian odyssey on video: the JUICE mission
AFP
“When NASA's Galileo mission passed by Europa, it opened our eyes to the complex and dynamic interaction that Europa has with its environment. “Juno brought a new ability to directly measure the composition of charged particles emitted from Europa's atmosphere, and we were excited to see beyond the curtain on this amazing aquatic world. ” said Salle. “But what we didn't realize was that Juno's observations would give us much tighter control over the amount of oxygen produced on Europa's icy surface.”
Juno 11 is designed to study the Jovian system with sophisticated science instruments, including nine electromagnetic wave and charged particle sensors to study Jupiter's magnetosphere.
“Our ability to fly close to the Galilean satellites during our extended mission has allowed us to launch a wide range of science, including some unique opportunities to contribute to Europa's habitat research,” said Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute. in San Antonio. “And we're not done yet. “Further flybys of the Moon and the first exploration of Jupiter's near-ring and polar atmosphere are still to come.”
Oxygen production is one of the many aspects that NASA's Europa Clipper mission will study when it arrives at Jupiter in the 2030s. The mission carries a state-of-the-art payload of nine science instruments.
