The James Webb Space Telescope has made a significant discovery while closely observing Jupiter’s moon Europa, one of NASA’s most trusted locations for the potential existence of extraterrestrial life.
According to The Guardian, the latest observations from the world’s most powerful space telescope confirm that carbon dioxide (CO2) on the surface of Europa originates from its subsurface ocean.
“This is a major discovery. We still do not know whether life is actually present, but this new finding adds evidence that Europa’s ocean would be a good bet for searching for existing life,” said Dr. Christopher Glein from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in the United States.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft flying over Jupiter’s moon Europa – (Image credit: NASA)
Europa is one of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons, which are the four largest among its dozens of moons, discovered by the scientist Galileo Galilei in the early 17th century.
For a long time, NASA has been confident about its potential for habitability, as successive Jupiter orbiters have been impacted by water vapor from the subsurface ocean beneath the icy crust, which contains chemical components representative of life.
A mission named Europa Clipper is being prepared by NASA to deploy a lander with a miniature robot to this “promised land,” diving into the subsurface ocean to search for extraterrestrial life.
This new discovery further confirms that. Previously, solid CO2 had been found on the surface of Europa. However, proving that it belongs to the subsurface ocean is crucial, as carbon is the “backbone” element of life.
James Webb’s near-infrared observations have helped scientists map the distribution of CO2 on Europa, revealing a concentration of CO2 at Tara Regio on this moon.
This area spans 1,800 km2, featuring chaotic terrain with ice cracks and ridges formed when blocks of ice are pushed from deep below to the surface through geological processes.
In other words, the carbon that makes up CO2 is from the subsurface ocean beneath the icy crust.
On Earth, six key elements form the foundation of all life: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, phosphorus, and nitrogen. With this new discovery, four of the most important elements—carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur—have been identified on Europa.
Professor Andrew Coates, head of planetary science at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London (UCL) in the UK, who was not involved in the research, commented: “For life to exist, you need liquid water, the right chemistry, a source of energy, and enough time for life to develop. I think all those things could be present on Europa.”
