Exploring Europa: The Possibility of Oceans and Life under Ice

2023-11-22 06:46:00

■One of Jupiter’s Galilean moons…an icy body with an average temperature of -71 degrees Celsius;■The possibility of oceans and life under ice is high, so there is great interest in the space science community;■NASA recently discovered the presence of carbon, an important component of life[서울경제]

The last remaining blue ocean universe. The United States, Russia, China, and India have awakened to the value of space early on and are pioneering space. Our country is now jumping into space development in earnest. We try to tell the story of the unknown universe, its vast and gigantic world, in a fun way so that everyone, from children to adults, can easily understand it. A view of Europa. Photo provided by NASA ‘Europa’, one of Jupiter’s satellites, has a total diameter of 3122 km, making it the smallest of the Galilean satellites (Jupiter’s four major satellites discovered by Galileo Galilei: Ganymede, Io, Europa, and Callisto). The average temperature of Europa, which is far from the sun, is -171.15 degrees Celsius, with the highest temperature being -148 degrees Celsius and the lowest temperature being -223 degrees Celsius. Europa, which has an icy surface, has long been a subject of interest to space scientists, and has recently received even more attention. This is because there is a high possibility that there is life on this moon. Astronomers estimate that Europa has a liquid subterranean ocean tens of kilometers deep, more than twice the size of Earth’s oceans, beneath a 15 to 20 kilometer layer of ice. But so far no chemicals have been identified that would increase the likelihood of life in these oceans. Then, recently, researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) discovered such material on Europa. Last September, NASA announced in the international academic journal ‘Science’ that it had identified carbon dioxide on the surface of Europa using the James Webb Space Telescope’s near-infrared camera and spectrometer. NASA researchers said, “It is highly likely that this carbon did not come from a meteorite or other celestial body, but rather seeped through the ice layer from an underground ocean.” Carbon, which easily combines with other elements, is the most central element among the six essential elements that make up living things (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur). In NASA’s latest observation, the area most abundant in carbon dioxide was identified as an area called Tara Reggio, also known as a chaotic terrain. Chaotic terrain refers to a place where various topographical features are mixed together, and is a feature that appears in areas that were geologically formed for a short period of time. Researchers believe that this may have caused cracks in the ice layer, allowing material from the underground ocean to rise to the surface. Professor Samanta Trumbo of Cornell University in the US said, “The Hubble Space Telescope confirmed evidence that there is salt from the sea in this area, and then the James Webb Telescope showed that carbon dioxide is abundantly concentrated,” adding, “This means that carbon is stored in the underground ocean.” “It means that it has its origins,” he explained. In this observation, NASA researchers were able to use James Webb’s spectrometer to obtain a spectrum of the entire surface of Europa, which has a diameter of 3,130 km, at a resolution of 320 km, and were able to confirm which substances are distributed where. A spectroscope is a device that analyzes the unique light wavelengths emitted from each substance to find out what substance is present. Analysis results showed that carbon dioxide on Europa’s surface was concentrated in young terrain and was not in a stable state. This supports that this material was created relatively recently geologically. This is a sign that strengthens the possibility that there is an environment in which life can exist in Europa’s ocean. The surface of Europa. Photo provided by NASA Previously, NASA’s Jupiter probe Galileo detected carbon dioxide on the surface during a close flyby of Europa in 2003. This observation by the James Webb Telescope is significant in that it has secured evidence of where carbon originates. This is because the origin of carbon is an important criterion in estimating the possibility of life on Europa. NASA plans to launch the Europa Clipper probe in October 2024, which will investigate whether Europa has conditions suitable for life. After arriving in Jupiter’s orbit in 2030, Clipper plans to fly close to Europa dozens of times and analyze Europa’s composition. Some astrobiologists are opposed to exploring Europa. The reason is that if there is life on Europa, the ecosystem may be disturbed by probes from Earth. Astrobiologists believe that the satellite’s ecosystem is almost completely closed, but if a probe from Earth penetrates Europa’s ice, it is unknown what effect Earth’s viruses, bacteria, and cosmic radiation that would be buried by the probe would have on the ecosystem. no see. There are many similar cases on Earth. For example, during the Age of Exploration, Europeans and Native Americans exchanged diseases to which they were not resistant, resulting in massive casualties. If life is discovered on Europa, scientific groups that want to study it and those that oppose it may clash. However, as we get closer to unlocking the secrets of extraterrestrial life, one of humanity’s greatest interests, the exploration of Europa is something to look forward to. If life is discovered on Europa, Earth will no longer be a lonely planet in space. 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