Madrid. Near-global maps of Jupiter’s moon Europa in ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, show concentrations of sulfur dioxide on its back side.
Scientists are almost certain that hidden beneath Europa’s icy surface is a saltwater ocean that contains nearly twice as much water as all of Earth’s oceans. This moon may be the most promising place in our solar system suitable for some form of life beyond Earth. The new maps fill a “gap” in the various wavelengths used to observe this world of frozen water.
“Europa’s relatively young surface is composed primarily of water ice, although other materials have been detected on its surface,” Dr. Tracy Becker of the Southwest Research Institute, lead author of the paper describing these UV observations, said in a statement. . “Determining whether these other materials are native to Europa is important to understanding the formation of Europa and its subsequent evolution.”
Evaluation of surface material can provide information on the composition of the subterranean ocean. The SwRI dataset is the first to produce a near-global map of sulfur dioxide that correlates with large-scale darker regions in the visible and ultraviolet wavelengths.
“The results were not surprising, but we got much better coverage and resolution than previous observations,” said Dr. Philippa Molyneux of SwRI, co-author of the paper. “Most of the sulfur dioxide is seen in Europa’s ‘back’ hemisphere. It’s likely to be concentrated there because Jupiter’s co-rotating magnetic field traps sulfur particles being ejected from Io’s volcanoes and slams them into the back of Europe.
Io is another of Jupiter’s largest moons but, on the contrary, it is considered the most volcanic body in the solar system. Jupiter’s magnetic field can cause chemical reactions between water ice and sulfur, creating sulfur dioxide on Europa’s surface.
“In addition to studying sulfur dioxide on the surface, we are still trying to understand the puzzle of why Europa, which has a surface known to be dominated by water ice, does not look like water ice at ultraviolet wavelengths.” , as confirmed by this newspaper,” Becker said. “We are actively working to understand why.”
The research was published in The Planetary Science Journal.
#Hubble #telescope #shows #high #levels #CO2 #Jupiters #moon
