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27 September 2016
In
a surprise find, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have spotted
water vapour plumes erupting off the surface on Jupiter's moon Europa,
suggesting that life may exist in our solar system. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
The
observation increases the possibility that missions to Europa may be able to
sample Europa's ocean without having to drill through miles of ice. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
"Europa's
ocean is considered to be one of the most promising places that could
potentially harbour life in the solar system," said Geoff Yoder, acting
associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington,
DC. The Total Investment & Insurance
Solutions
"These
plumes, if they do indeed exist, may provide another way to sample Europa's
subsurface," Yoder added.
Europa
is one of the largest of Jupiter's 67 known moons. In late 2013, the Hubble
telescope observed water vapour erupting from Europa, in what was hailed as a
atremendously exciting' discovery. The Total
Investment & Insurance Solutions
The
plumes are estimated to rise about 200 km before, presumably, raining material
back down onto Europa's surface. The Total
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Europa
has a huge global ocean containing twice as much water as Earth's oceans, but
it is protected by a layer of extremely cold and hard ice of unknown thickness.
The
plumes provide a tantalising opportunity to gather samples originating from
under the surface without having to land or drill through the ice.
The
team, led by William Sparks of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in
Baltimore observed these finger-like projections while viewing Europa's limb as
the moon passed in front of Jupiter. The Total
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The
original goal of the team's observing proposal was to determine whether Europa
has a thin, extended atmosphere, or exosphere. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
"The
atmosphere of an extrasolar planet blocks some of the starlight that is behind
it," Sparks said. The Total Investment
& Insurance Solutions
"If
there is a thin atmosphere around Europa, it has the potential to block some of
the light of Jupiter, and we could see it as a silhouette. And so we were
looking for absorption features around the limb of Europa as it transited the
smooth face of Jupiter," he explained.
In
10 separate occurrences spanning 15 months, the team observed Europa passing in
front of Jupiter. They saw what could be plumes erupting on three of these
occasions.
If
confirmed, Europa would be the second moon in the solar system known to have
water vapour plumes. The Total Investment
& Insurance Solutions
In
2005, NASA's Cassini orbiter detected jets of water vapour and dust spewing off
the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The
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Scientists
may use the infrared vision of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled
to launch in 2018, to confirm venting or plume activity on Europa.
NASA
is also formulating a mission to Europa with a payload that could confirm the
presence of plumes and study them from close range during multiple flybys.
"Hubble's
unique capabilities enabled it to capture these plumes, once again
demonstrating Hubble's ability to make observations it was never designed to
make," said Paul Hertz, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA
headquarters in Washington, DC.
The
work by Sparks and his colleagues is forthcoming in the Astrophysical Journal.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
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