Astronomers Detect Water Vapor on Jupiter’s Moon for the First Time

Our solar system is formed by the sun and over 1,700 smaller celestial bodies, including comets, asteroids and the planets with their satellites. In short, it is located in one of the spaces of the Milky Way, being formed by the solar star and so many other celestial bodies around it. Of these, we can mention the moon, asteroids, planets and their satellites along with everything that is present in outer space.

Our universe is a huge box of surprises. It is believed that we have not discovered a third of what exists in all this immensity, even though there are several people who dedicate their lives to studying the subject. And new secrets are always revealed.

In short, scientists around the world dedicate their lives to discovering new things, especially about neighboring planets. For a variety of reasons, Jupiter is almost always in the crosshairs of research. This is the largest planet in our entire solar system, both in diameter and mass. Furthermore, it is the fifth closest to our main star, the sun.

Jupiter

And there’s a reason astronomers are so fascinated with Jupiter . It is the oldest of planets, and the fifth planet in our solar system. In addition to having a mass 2.5 times that of all the other planets put together.

The planet, like Mars, has always aroused the curiosity of researchers. So much so that they have now discovered evidence of water vapor in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede for the first time.

It is the largest moon in the solar system and is covered in an icy crust. According to what scientists believe, the moon may have a liquid ocean 161 kilometers below its surface. Precisely that ocean could host aquatic alien life.

Steam

NASA had announced that after examining two decades of data from the Hubble telescope, researchers found evidence of water vapor in Jupiter’s moon’s thin atmosphere .

However, this water probably doesn’t come from the underground ocean. Instead, it probably comes from ice vaporized from the moon’s surface. While it doesn’t say much about the moon’s potential to harbor alien life, this water vapor has contributed to scientists’ understanding of Ganymede’s atmosphere.

“So far, only molecular oxygen has been observed. This happens when charged particles erode the surface of the ice,” said Lorenz Roth of the Royal Institute of Technology KTH in Stockholm, Sweden, who led the team that found the vapor.