Mind-Blowing Discovery: Alien Life-Building Block Found on Jupiter's Moon, Europa!

Discoveries suggest that Europa, one of Jupiter's icy moons, may harbor a fundamental constituent of life within its vast global ocean.

Two teams of astronomers utilized the James Webb Space Telescope to observe Europa's frozen surface. Each analysis of the telescope's observations discovered a large amount of carbon dioxide in a specific area of the cold terrain. The results of both studies were published in the journal Science on September 21.

Geronimo Villanueva, lead author of the first study and a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, stated that on Earth, chemical diversity is favored by life. As carbon-based life forms, understanding the chemistry of Europa's ocean will help determine if it is hostile to known forms of life or if it could potentially support life.

Europa, along with Earth, is considered to be one of the ocean worlds within our solar system where scientists speculate the possibility of life existing. Below its icy surface, Europa houses an extensive global ocean that potentially holds twice the amount of water found in all of our planet's oceans combined.

However, as per NASA, the presence of water alone is insufficient for sustaining life. Environments conducive to life also necessitate a presence of organic molecules and an energy source.

Scientists have long questioned whether Europas ocean contained carbon and other chemicals necessary for life.

Astronomers used the Webb telescope to observe Jupiter's icy moon Europa.

NASA/ESA/CSA

The researchers performed an analysis to determine the source of the carbon present on Europa's surface, using the data obtained from Webb. They examined whether it arrived through meteorites or originated from within the internal ocean.

There seems to be a concentration of carbon dioxide in Tara Regio, a region of "chaos terrain" on Europa. This relatively new geological area displays evidence of ice disturbance and resurfacing, indicating a possible exchange of material between the ocean and the surface.

The two teams have reached the same conclusion that the carbon dioxide found on the surface of Europa is not stable and is likely supplied by the ocean. This discovery is supported by observational evidence, as stated by Samantha Trumbo, lead author of the second study and a 51 Pegasi B Fellow at Cornell University. She emphasized the significance of this finding, as carbon is an essential element for biological processes.

Previously, the Hubble Space Telescope detected ocean-derived salt in the same region.

"We think this implies that the carbon probably has its ultimate origin in the internal ocean," Trumbo said.

Investigating Europa

Astronomers used data from Webbs Near-Infrared Spectrograph to identify the signature of carbon dioxide on the moons surface.

"Considerable debate among scientists revolves around the extent to which Europa's ocean is connected to its surface. This question has significantly fueled the exploration of Europa," stated Villanueva. "This indicates that we might acquire some fundamental knowledge about the composition of the ocean even before penetrating the ice to obtain a comprehensive portrayal."

In previous studies, astronomers made provisional observations of plumes emerging from Europa's surface using the Hubble Space Telescope. Although the Webb telescope did not detect any plumes during its observations of Europa, the researchers emphasize that this does not rule out their existence."

Webb's Near-Infrared Spectrograph identified carbon dioxide on Europa's surface.

"We cannot discount the possibility that these plumes may vary and that their visibility is limited to specific occasions. What we can assert with complete certainty is that during our observations with Webb, we did not detect any plume at Europa," stated Heidi Hammel, a Webb interdisciplinary scientist and the vice president for science at the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.

Two upcoming missions, the European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) launched in April and NASA's Europa Clipper, scheduled to lift off in October 2024, will be instrumental in conducting a more detailed exploration of Europa.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captures an awe-inspiring scene of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The image reveals a remarkable water vapor plume emanating from the moon's southern pole, extending a staggering 20 times larger than Enceladus itself. Highlighting this incredible contrast, the inset image from the Cassini orbiter emphasizes the minuscule size of Enceladus when compared to the majestic water plume. Photo credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/G. Villanueva/A. Pagan.

NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/G. Villanueva/A. Pagan

Webb telescope spies massive plume erupting from Saturns moon Enceladus

Both investigations aim to explore the possibility of Europa being habitable by examining its potential to support life in its icy ocean world.

According to Trumbo, future observations of Europa using the Webb Telescope could assist astronomers in identifying other specific areas on the surface with high concentrations of carbon dioxide.

She expressed her keen interest in the presence of organic molecules on the surface and looked forward to finding evidence. While the forthcoming JWST data would assist in this regard, the Europa Clipper mission would provide a more intimate and detailed examination of the most promising geological areas.