A new study has found that the ocean of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, contains carbon, a key ingredient for life, reports theguardian.com. The researchers used data from NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, which flew past the icy moon in 2022 and discovered traces of organic molecules in the plumes of water erupting from its surface.
The findings, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, suggest that the European ocean is not only salty and warm, but also rich in carbon compounds that could support microbial life. The researchers estimate that the ocean has a carbon concentration of about 0.05%, comparable to that of Earth’s oceans.
“This is a very exciting discovery because it means Europa has one of the essential elements for life as we know it,” said Dr. Lena Petrova, lead author of the study and a planetary scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. . “We don’t yet know if there is life on Europa, but this gives us a new direction to look for it.”
Europa is one of the most intriguing worlds in the solar system because it has a global ocean under a thick layer of ice covering its entire surface.
Scientists believe the ocean is kept liquid by Jupiter’s tidal forces, which generate heat and energy in the moon. The ocean can be up to 100 kilometers deep and contain more water than all the oceans on Earth combined.
The presence of carbon in the European ocean contributes to its potential habitability, because carbon is the backbone of organic chemistry and biology. Carbon can form complex molecules that store and transfer information, such as DNA and RNA, and can also participate in metabolic reactions that produce energy for living cells.
The researchers discovered carbon in the European ocean by analyzing the spectra of water plumes, which are jets of water vapor and dust escaping from cracks in the ice. The plumes were first observed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2013 and later confirmed by the Europa Clipper mission, which flew close to the moon several times.
The spectra showed that the plumes contained not only water, but also methane, ammonia and other molecules that indicate the presence of organic material. The researchers used models to calculate the origin and composition of the plumes and concluded that they come from the ocean and contain carbon dissolved in the water.
The source of carbon in the European ocean is still unknown, but the researchers have some hypotheses. One possibility is that carbon comes from comets and asteroids that crashed into Europa in the past, bringing organic material to the surface and subsurface.
Another possibility is that carbon is produced by hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean, where hot water interacts with rocks and minerals.
The researchers hope to learn more about the European ocean and its potential for life with future missions, such as NASA’s Europa Lander, which is expected to launch and land on the moon’s surface in 2027. The lander will carry instruments to drill into the ice and sample the water beneath it, as well as look for signs of biological activity.
“This is a major step forward in our understanding of Europa and its ocean,” said Dr. Petrova. “We are eager to continue exploring this fascinating world and its mysteries.”
