James Webb Space Telescope detects 1st evidence of carbon on Jupiter's icy moon Europa

[Admin]

The James Webb Space Telescope has observed a source of carbon, a vital ingredient for life, on Jupiter's icy moon Europa.

James Webb Space Telescope detects 1st evidence of carbon on Jupiter's icy moon Europa : Read more

 

[rod]

The space.com article stated. "Scientists have been aware for some time that oceans of water lie beneath the icy shell of Europa but did not know if these oceans had the right chemistry to support life. Thus, the discovery of carbon  —  a vital element in living things —  from this subsurface ocean on one of Jupiter's moons has important implications for the potential habitability of this moon and is a testament to the groundbreaking science being made possible by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). "On Earth, life likes chemical diversity  —  the more diversity, the better. We're carbon-based life. Understanding the chemistry of Europa's ocean will help us determine whether it's hostile to life as we know it or whether it might be a good place for life," research lead author and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center scientist Geronimo Villanueva said in a statement. "This suggests that we may be able to learn some basic things about the ocean's composition even before we drill through the ice to get the full picture."

My note, the problem here is the same as carbon on asteroids and abiogenesis converting that into life on Earth. Example, How much asteroid material is NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe delivering to Earth this weekend?, https://forums.space.com/threads/ho...probe-delivering-to-earth-this-weekend.63198/

 

[Helio]

My note, the problem here is the same as carbon on asteroids and abiogenesis converting that into life on Earth. Example, How much asteroid material is NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe delivering to Earth this weekend?, https://forums.space.com/threads/ho...probe-delivering-to-earth-this-weekend.63198/

Yeah.

But, the headline is certainly news-worthy because it is a first. But, your questions, and hundreds more that are related, will also require a number of firsts to get us to a point where there is a hint of life probability on any of the watery moons.

BTW, had I not left my revised program at the office, I would be able to tell you the total number of exoplanets that meet the simple conditions for a watery moon. Namely:
1) large enough to generate tidal stress heating to keep water liquid under an ice caprice;
2) located past their respective Frost line.

I think the number was close to 500, but it could have been as much as 800. I don't know how many exoplanets did not have the necessary data to allow the test, though most of them did.

 

[Thomas Hutcheson]

Is this meant as a question as to the possibility that the CO2 detected originated from an asteroid strike rate than from within?