Water is a crucial molecule for life, but it is not only important because of our tireless search for life other than our own or the habitability of planets, but because it is a key element for the formation of worlds, hence we need to find out how much of it is. it is in the solar system helps us determine which theories of planet formation are the most accurate.
Now, NASA’s Juno mission has provided us with the first scientific results on the amount of water in Jupiter’s atmosphere and … yes, it was higher than we initially thought , based on Galileo data from the late 20th century. (The Galileo probe transmitted its latest data on Jupiter in December 1995, which revealed ten times less water than expected).
But what is perhaps more surprising is that the amount of water Galileo measured seemed to keep increasing at greater depths, at a distance well below where theories suggest that the atmosphere should be well mixed. In a well-mixed atmosphere, the water content is constant throughout the region and is more likely to represent the water of the entire planet. The resolution to this puzzle is that Galileo appears to have sampled from a particularly hot and dry place.
“Just when we think we have things figured out, Jupiter reminds us how much we still have to learn,” said Scott Bolton, a researcher at the Southwest Research Institute and leader of the work.
The surprise
The study, which has been published in the journal Nature , estimates that at the equator, water makes up about 0.25% of the molecules in Jupiter’s atmosphere , almost three times that of the Sun.
“Juno’s surprising discovery that the atmosphere was not well mixed, even far below the cloud tops, is a puzzle we’re still trying to solve. No one would have guessed that water could be so variable all over the planet. “Bolton continues.
Why is this information important?
An accurate estimate of the total amount of water in Jupiter’s atmosphere has been on the wish list of planetary scientists for decades: the figure in the gas giant represents the critical missing piece to the puzzle of the formation of our solar system. ; because it was probably the first planet to form , and it contains most of the gas and dust that was not incorporated into our star.
That amount of water also has important implications for the gas giant’s meteorology, how wind currents flow on the planet and what its internal structure is like.
The measurements in the new study come from Juno’s first eight flybys of Jupiter, which focused on the equatorial regions of the gas giant planet. The next flyby will take place on April 10, 2020. Juno will continue to orbit Jupiter until July 2021, when it will disintegrate in the planet’s atmosphere, just like Cassini did on Saturn.
Referencia: Cheng Li et al. The water abundance in Jupiter’s equatorial zone, Nature Astronomy (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-020-1009-3
