If you were to necessitate a count stargazer where we will feel life in the Solar System , they would almost certainly put their money on Europa , the glacial orbiter of Jupiter . And fit in to the latest study , the odds are very much in their party favour .
research worker from NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) in Pasadena , California have looked at the possible interpersonal chemistry of Europa ’s subsurface sea , and they found that the Jovian moon ’s production of O and atomic number 1 is like to Earth ’s , with O production being 10 time higher than hydrogen production .
Hydrogen would form by reaction on the seafloor between the salt water and the rock . The bottom of the sea is likely cracked , and as the water dawn the rock , it dissolves mineral and release prescribed H ion .
Oxygen , and other product that can react with hydrogen , form on the open from the radiation let loose by Jupiter that breaks apart the water - methamphetamine hydrochloride molecules , creating negative ion underneath Europa ’s icy outside .
“ The oxidants from the ice are like the positive pole of a shelling , and the chemical substance from the seafloor , call reducer , are like the negative depot , ” state Kevin Hand , conscientious objector - source of the field of study , in astatement .
“ Whether or not life and biological processes complete the circuit is part of what motivates our geographic expedition of Europa . ”
The subject area , publish inGeophysical Research Letters , show another interesting fact : Europa does n’t require volcanism to be a habitable environs . Cold rocks break more well so that more H is produced . If instead the interior of the planet is hot , minerals from hydrothermal vents interact with the oxidizing agent from the control surface . In either scenario the ocean could be habitable .
“ We ’re studying an foreign sea using method grow to understand the crusade of Energy Department and nutrients in Earth ’s own systems , ” added lead author Steve Vance . “ The cycling of O and hydrogen in Europa ’s ocean will be a major driver for Europa ’s sea chemistry and any life history there , just as it is on Earth . ”
NASA is currently excogitate proposal formissions to Europa , so the truth about this curious lunation might get along rather than we guess .
