{"id":92644,"date":"2025-11-09T15:17:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T15:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/life-on-jupiters-moon-new-data-approaches-answer-2"},"modified":"2025-11-09T15:28:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T15:28:56","slug":"life-on-jupiters-moon-new-data-approaches-answer-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/life-on-jupiters-moon-new-data-approaches-answer-2","title":{"rendered":"Life on Jupiter’s Moon: New Data Approaches Answer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Europa, one of Jupiter\u2019s largest moons, produces insufficient oxygen to sustain life.<\/p>\n

Recent data from NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft, which orbits Jupiter, suggests that if anything is concealed within the depths of this moon\u2019s shadow, it may lack oxygen.<\/p>\n

The discovery, published in Nature Astronomy, was based on analysis of data transmitted by NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft while orbiting Jupiter during a quick flyby in September 2022.<\/p>\n

Jamey Szalay and his research team at Princeton University concluded that while the moon\u2019s surface releases hydrogen abundantly, it only produces a mere 18 kilograms of oxygen per second.<\/p>\n

This falls significantly short of the approximately 1,000 kilograms per second predicted by previous computer models.<\/p>\n

Despite this shortfall, recent oxygen estimates \u201care still compatible with microbial habitability for life as we know it,\u201d noted astrobiologist Manasvi Lingam of the Florida Institute of Technology, who was not involved in the study.<\/p>\n

Water bodies buried beneath Europa\u2019s surface are assumed to be nutrient-deficient due to their isolation and the absence of sunlight, which powers photosynthesis.<\/p>\n

But nutrients stockpiled on the oceans\u2019 ice-covered rooves over hundreds of millions of years could have been transported by several geological processes to greater depths below. The scarcity of sunlight is \u201cnot necessarily a death knell for life in subsurface oceans,\u201d remarked Lingam.<\/p>\n

Europa\u2019s atmosphere has a delicate layer of oxygen hugging the moon\u2019s surface under a thicker layer of hydrogen. Hydrogen and oxygen continuously replenish the moon\u2019s thin air as they escape its radiation-filled icy shell. Szalay explains that these elements are \u201cbouncing around…every once in a while, one of them pops off.\u201d<\/p>\n

During Juno\u2019s few minutes flypast of Europa, its JADE (Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment) instrument detected free hydrogen atoms within the moon\u2019s environs. It calculated 100 million atoms during its short passage.<\/p>\n

The Princeton team reverse-engineered how much oxygen is dissipated on the moon\u2019s surface and then determined the quantity of oxygen it produces. According to research co-author and JADE instrument lead Frederic Allegrini of the Southwest Research Institute in Texas, means \u201cthere\u2019s no doubt that they come from Europa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin Hand from NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a scientist not part of the recent research, has lauded the latest findings as \u201cvery intriguing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut oxygen is only part of the story,\u201d<\/p>\n

he said.<\/p>\n

Hand\u2019s earlier study with his team revealed that the yellowish-brown material covering much of Europa\u2019s surface is salt, suggesting the presence of hydrothermal vents on the moon\u2019s seafloor. That raises the possibility of an energy source that could foster microorganisms like on our planet.<\/p>\n

Hands and his colleagues also confirmed parts of Europa\u2019s frosty shell are rich in Epsom salt. Earth\u2019s microbial life \u201cloves to chew away on sulfate.\u201d The sulfate on the surface implies that it could also seep into Europa\u2019s ocean, significantly enhancing its habitability.<\/p>\n

Life on Earth likely emerged around four billion years ago. On theory says life could have begun at hydrothermal vents on the seafloor, supplying energy that formed complex organic molecules.<\/p>\n

Our planet was oxygen-starved for the first half of its existence. The emergence of Earth\u2019s atmospheric oxygen is attributed to the evolution of cyanobacteria, capable of oxygen-producing photosynthesis, around two billion years ago.<\/p>\n

Astrobiologists are gearing up for NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper mission scheduled for 2030, following Juno into an orbit near Jupiter. Like Juno, Clipper will avoid orbiting Europa to escape Jupiter\u2019s intense radiation belts. It will circle the gas giant while making around 50 flybys of the moon over four years.<\/p>\n

That mission aims to map Europa\u2019s interior and assess its subsurface ocean depth, potentially measuring oxygen abundance just 25 kilometers above its icy surface.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Europa, one of Jupiter\u2019s largest moons, produces insufficient oxygen to sustain life. Recent data from NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft, which orbits Jupiter, suggests that if anything is concealed within the depths of this moon\u2019s shadow, it may lack oxygen. The discovery, published in Nature Astronomy, was based on analysis of data transmitted by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":92643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-92644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nLife on Jupiter's Moon: New Data Approaches Answer - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Europa, one of Jupiter\u2019s largest moons, produces insufficient oxygen to sustain life. 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