Astronomers have found signs of water on Jupiter, according to an article published in The Astronomical Journal. In addition, analysis of the Great Red Spot, the largest hurricane in the solar system, has shown that the planet's gas envelope contains two to nine times more oxygen than the sun.
It is believed that Jupiter may have been the first planet to be born in a disk of gas and dust that surrounded the young, newly formed Sun. For a long time, astronomers assumed that the gas giant, like the luminary, does not have a solid core and consists mainly of hydrogen and helium. However, the latest data obtained by the device "Juno" indicate that the interior of Jupiter may be more complex. Apparently, the planet still has a solid core surrounded by an ice crust. Its mass should be 10 times the mass of the Earth.
The search for water plays an important role in determining the internal structure of the largest planet in the solar system. Computer simulation data show that the core of Jupiter consists of successive layers of metals, rocky rocks, as well as ice from methane, water, and ammonia. The presence or absence of water molecules in its gas envelope can help determine how reliable current theories are.
The group of Gordon Bjoraker, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, has observed the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. Using telescopes at the Keck Observatory, they obtained high-resolution infrared spectra, which allowed them to look down to depths where pressures range from 0.5 bar to 5 bar (altitude on Jupiter is measured in bars, since the planet has no well-defined surface from which to would count down). In addition, astronomers have studied Jupiter with the IRTF infrared telescope.
Planetologists suggest that Jupiter's clouds are divided into three main layers: the lower one consists of water ice and liquid water, the middle one consists of ammonia and sulfur, and the upper one consists of ammonia. Bjoraker's group studied the planet's atmosphere at wavelengths from 4.6 to 5.4 micrometers: this is a kind of transparency window that allows you to look into the depth of the cloud layer, since hydrogen, which predominantly consists of its atmosphere, and methane have a minimum absorption in this range …
As a result, the researchers found lines at an altitude of about 5 bar, corresponding to deuterated methane, phosphine and water. However, temperatures at this depth are too high for methane and its isotopologues (molecules that differ only in the isotopic composition of atoms) to condense and turn into clouds. At the same time, they roughly correspond to the temperatures required for water to freeze at a pressure of 5 bar (about 257-290 Kelvin).
Modeling showed that the researchers "almost certainly" found a cloud of liquid or frozen water. It also ruled out the possibility that Bjoraker's team had found phosphine clouds. The researchers also estimated the amount of carbon monoxide in the lower layers of the Jupiter's gas shell, which was 0.8 ± 0.2 ppb. Together, the findings indicate that the planet may be rich in oxygen - 2-9 times richer than the Sun.
Now Bjoraker's results will need to be tested in other parts of the planet in order to get a global picture of water distribution. If the data of astrophysicists coincide with the data of the probe "Juno", then scientists can use a similar method to study the rest of the planets of the solar system.
Promotional video:
Thanks to Juno, scientists have already managed to make many discoveries. With the help of the probe's instruments, astronomers were able to study auroras, cyclones and storms on the gas giant, measure the depth of the Great Red Spot (a giant vortex the size of the Earth), and take many photographs of the largest planet in the solar system. You can read more about Juno's exploration in our material Under the Skin of Jupiter, as well as in the special topic Juno's Journey.
Christina Ulasovich