Webb spots a building block of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa

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https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/27/world/webb-europa-carbon-detection-scn/index.html

Webb spots a building block of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa
By Ashley Strickland, CNN
Published 5:00 PM EDT, Wed September 27, 2023

This side-by-side comparison shows observations of the Southern Ring
Nebula in near-infrared light, left, and mid-infrared light, right, from
NASA's Webb telescope. The Southern Ring Nebula is 2,000 light-years
away from Earth. This large planetary nebula includes an expanding cloud
of gas around a dying star, as well as a secondary star earlier on in
its evolution.
President Joe Biden <a
href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/11/world/james-webb-space-telescope-first-image-scn/index.html"
target="_blank">released one of Webb's first images</a> on July 11, and
it's "the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to
date," according to NASA. The image shows SMACS 0723, where a massive
group of galaxy clusters act as a magnifying glass for the objects
behind them. Called gravitational lensing, this created Webb's first
deep field view of incredibly old and distant, faint galaxies.
This image shows the Ring Nebula in exceptional detail, like the
filament elements in the ring's inner section.
This image shows the Ring Nebula in exceptional detail, like the
filament elements in the ring's inner section.
ESA/Webb/NASA/CSA
Earendel, the most distant star ever discovered, can be seen in this
image of the Sunrise Arc galaxy.
The Ring Nebula is seen in breathtaking detail, in a composite image
released on August 4.
The James Webb Space Telescope captured a high-resolution image of a
pair of actively forming stars called Herbig-Haro 46/47. The stellar
duo, only a few thousand years old, is located at the center of the red
diffraction spikes.
The James Webb Space Telescope captured a detailed closeup of the birth
of sunlike stars in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud, the closest star-forming
region located 390 light-years from Earth. The young stars release jets
that cause the surrounding gas to glow. The image's release marks the
first anniversary of Webb's observations of the cosmos.
Saturn and its moons were captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope
June 25. The image shows details of the planet's atmosphere and ring
system.
The James Webb Space Telescope captured the Orion Bar, a part of the
Orion Nebula that is being eroded by stellar radiation emanating from
the Trapezium Cluster.
This composite image, shot from the James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI
and NIRCam instruments, shows the bright clusters of stars and dust from
barred spiral galaxy NGC 5068.
Webb captured a burst of star formation triggered by two colliding
spiral galaxies called Arp 220. The phenomenon is the closest
ultra-luminous galactic merger to Earth.
Dusty rings surround Fomalhaut, a young star outside of our solar system
that's 25 light-years from Earth.
The Wolf-Rayet star WR 124 was one of the James Webb Space Telescope's
first discoveries, spotted in June 2022.
Stunning details can be seen in this Webb telescope photo of supernova
remnant Cassiopeia A, which is 11,000 light-years from Earth.
Webb's image of ice giant Uranus shows off the planet's incredible rings
and a bright haze covering its north polar cap (right). A bright cloud
lies at the cap's edge and a second one is seen at left.
The James Webb Space Telescope captured 50,000 sources of near-infrared
light in a new image of Pandora's Cluster, a megacluster of galaxies.
The cluster acts like a magnifying glass, allowing astronomers to see
more distant galaxies behind it.
Stars shine through the hazy material of the Chamaeleon I dark molecular
cloud, which is 630 light-years away from Earth.
The James Webb Space Telescope spotted NGC 346, one of the most dynamic
star-forming regions near the Milky Way, located in a dwarf galaxy
called the Small Magellanic Cloud.
Two galaxies, known as II ZW96, form a swirl shape while merging in the
constellation Delphinus.
The James Webb Space Telescope revealed features of a new protostar forming.
The James Webb Space Telescope captured a new perspective of the Pillars
of Creation in mid-infrared light. The dust of this star-forming region,
rather than the stars themselves, is the highlight, and resembles
ghostly figures.
Webb captured a highly detailed snapshot of the so-called <a
href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/19/world/webb-telescope-pillars-of-creation-scn/index.html"
target="_blank">Pillars of Creation,</a> a vista of three looming towers
made of interstellar dust and gas that's speckled with newly formed
stars. The area, which lies within the Eagle Nebula about 6,500
light-years from Earth, had previously been captured by the Hubble
Telescope in 1995, creating an image deemed "iconic" by space observers.
The two stars in WR140 produce shells of dust every eight years that
look like rings, as captured by the Webb telescope.
The James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope contributed to
this image of galactic pair VV 191. Webb observed the brighter
elliptical galaxy (left) and spiral galaxy (right) in near-infrared
light, and Hubble collected data in visible and ultraviolet light.
The James Webb Space Telescope captured spiral galaxy IC 5332, which is
over 29 million light-years away. The observatory's MIRI instrument<a
href="http://www.cnn.com/2022/09/27/world/spiral-galaxy-james-webb-new-images-scn/index.html"
target="_blank"> peered through interstellar dust to see the galaxy's
"bones."</a>
Webb captured the clearest view of the Neptune's rings in over 30 years.
The inner region of the <a
href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/12/world/james-webb-space-telescope-image-orion-nebula-scn/index.html"
target="_blank">Orion Nebula</a> as seen by the telescope's NIRCam
instrument. The image reveals intricate details about how stars and
planetary systems are formed.
NASA released a mosaic image of the <a
href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/06/world/webb-telescope-tarantula-nebula-stars-image-scn/index.html"
target="_blank">Tarantula Nebula</a> on Tuesday, September 6. The image,
which spans 340 light-years, shows tens of thousands of young stars that
were previously obscured by cosmic dust.
A new image of the Phantom Galaxy, which is 32 million light-years away
from Earth, combines data from the James Webb Space Telescope and the
Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA <a
href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/22/world/jupiter-images-webb-telescope-nasa-scn/index.html"
target="_blank">released an image</a> of Jupiter on Monday, August 22,
that shows the planet's famous Great Red Spot appearing white.
The James Webb Space Telescope <a
href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/02/world/webb-telescope-cartwheel-galaxy-image-scn/index.html"
target="_blank">captured the Cartwheel galaxy,</a> which is around 500
million light-years away, in a photo released by NASA on August 2.
Webb's landscape-like view, called "Cosmic Cliffs," is actually the edge
of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina
Nebula. The telescope's infrared view reveals previously invisible areas
of star birth.
The five galaxies of Stephan's Quintet can be seen here in a new light.
The galaxies appear to dance with one another, showcasing how these
interactions can drive galactic evolution.
This side-by-side comparison shows observations of the Southern Ring
Nebula in near-infrared light, left, and mid-infrared light, right, from
NASA's Webb telescope. The Southern Ring Nebula is 2,000 light-years
away from Earth. This large planetary nebula includes an expanding cloud
of gas around a dying star, as well as a secondary star earlier on in
its evolution.
President Joe Biden <a
href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/11/world/james-webb-space-telescope-first-image-scn/index.html"
target="_blank">released one of Webb's first images</a> on July 11, and
it's "the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to
date," according to NASA. The image shows SMACS 0723, where a massive
group of galaxy clusters act as a magnifying glass for the objects
behind them. Called gravitational lensing, this created Webb's first
deep field view of incredibly old and distant, faint galaxies.
This image shows the Ring Nebula in exceptional detail, like the
filament elements in the ring's inner section.
Earendel, the most distant star ever discovered, can be seen in this
image of the Sunrise Arc galaxy.
Observing the universe with the James Webb Space Telescope
1 of 33
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CNN
—
A building block of life may exist inside the global ocean on Europa,
one of Jupiter’s icy moons.

Two independent teams of astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope
to observe the frozen surface of Europa, and each analysis of the space
observatory’s detections revealed an abundance of carbon dioxide within
a specific region of the frigid terrain. Both studies describing the
findings were published September 21 in the journal Science.

“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 if it might be a good place for life,” said Geronimo Villanueva, lead
author of the first study and planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard
Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement.

Europa is one of several ocean worlds in our solar system besides Earth
where scientists believe life could exist. Beneath a thick ice shell,
Europa harbors a subsurface global ocean that may contain twice as much
water as our planet’s oceans.

But environments suitable for life need more than water — they also
require a supply of organic molecules and an energy source, according to
NASA.

Scientists have long questioned whether Europa’s ocean contained carbon
and other chemicals necessary for life.

For as long as humans have gazed into the night sky, we have wondered
about life beyond the Earth. Scientists now know that several places in
our solar system might have conditions suitable for life. One of these
is Jupiter's moon Europa, a fascinating world with a salty, subsurface
ocean of liquid water—possibly twice as much as in all of Earth's oceans
combined. However, scientists had not confirmed if Europa's ocean
contained biologically essential chemicals, particularly carbon, the
universal building block for life as we know it. Now, using the James
Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have found carbon on Europa's surface,
which likely originated in this ocean. The discovery signals a
potentially habitable environment in the ocean of Europa.
Astronomers used the Webb telescope to observe Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
NASA/ESA/CSA
When Webb data revealed the presence of carbon on Europa’s surface, the
researchers conducted an analysis to see whether it was delivered by
meteorites, or if it originated within the internal ocean.

Carbon dioxide appears to be concentrated in a region of “chaos terrain”
on Europa called Tara Regio. The geologically young area contains ice
that has been disrupted and resurfaced, suggesting that material has
been exchanged between the ocean and the surface.

Carbon dioxide isn’t stable on Europa’s surface, which also led the two
teams to the same conclusion that it was supplied by the ocean.

“We now think that we have observational evidence that the carbon we see
on Europa’s surface came from the ocean. That’s not a trivial thing.
Carbon is a biologically essential element,” said Samantha Trumbo, lead
author of the second study and a 51 Pegasi B Fellow at Cornell
University, in a statement.

Previously, the Hubble Space Telescope detected ocean-derived salt in
the same region.

“We think this implies that the carbon probably has its ultimate origin
in the internal ocean,” Trumbo said.

Investigating Europa
Astronomers used data from Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph to identify
the signature of carbon dioxide on the moon’s surface.

“Scientists are debating how much Europa’s ocean connects to its
surface. I think that question has been a big driver of Europa
exploration,” Villanueva said. “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.”

Previously, astronomers made tentative detections of plumes erupting
from the surface of Europa using the Hubble Space Telescope. Webb did
not detect any plumes during its observations of Europa, but that
doesn’t mean they don’t occur, according to the researchers.

For as long as humans have gazed into the night sky, we have wondered
about life beyond the Earth. Scientists now know that several places in
our solar system might have conditions suitable for life. One of these
is Jupiter's moon Europa, a fascinating world with a salty, subsurface
ocean of liquid water—possibly twice as much as in all of Earth's oceans
combined. However, scientists had not confirmed if Europa's ocean
contained biologically essential chemicals, particularly carbon, the
universal building block for life as we know it. Now, using the James
Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have found carbon on Europa's surface,
which likely originated in this ocean. The discovery signals a
potentially habitable environment in the ocean of Europa.
Webb's Near-Infrared Spectrograph identified carbon dioxide on Europa's
surface.
NASA/ESA/CSA
“There is always a possibility that these plumes are variable and that
you can only see them at certain times. All we can say with 100%
confidence is that we did not detect a plume at Europa when we made
these observations with Webb,” said Heidi Hammel, a Webb
interdisciplinary scientist and vice president for science at the
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in a statement.

Two future missions will be able to take a closer look at Europa in the
future, including the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer
launched in April and NASA’s Europa Clipper, expected to lift off in
October 2024.

In this image, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows a water vapor
plume jetting from the southern pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus,
extending out 20 times the size of the moon itself. The inset, an image
from the Cassini orbiter, emphasizes how small Enceladus appears in the
Webb image compared to the water plume.
Credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/G. Villanueva/A. Pagan
Webb telescope spies massive plume erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus
Both will investigate Europa’s potential habitability to see whether the
icy ocean world could be hospitable to life.

Future observations of Europa with the Webb Telescope could help
astronomers determine whether there are other concentrated regions of
carbon dioxide on the surface, Trumbo said.

“I am also very interested in whether there is any evidence for organic
molecules anywhere on the surface,” she said. “Our upcoming JWST data
will help with that as well, but Europa Clipper will be able to get up
close and personal and really peer at some of the finer-scale and most
promising geologic regions.”

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[Jim Wilkins]

"a425couple" wrote in message news:ONhRM.78301$3vM....@fx37.iad...

Webb spots a building block of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa

-----------------------------------

Organic compounds were thought to be fundamentally different from man-made
ones until this experiment in 1828:
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(12)60740-X/pdf

"Before this experiment, most investigators believed that a "life force"
motivated or influenced all substances found in
plants and animals. They therefore contended that any substance produced by
a life process could not be made
from inorganic chemicals."

The classification "organic" stuck although it now means both natural and
synthetic carbon compounds.

In 1952 this experiment showed that electricity could create the building
blocks of proteins from cosmically abundant simple gases:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller%E2%80%93Urey_experiment

"Most of the natural amino acids, hydroxyacids, purines, pyrimidines, and
sugars have been made in variants of the Miller experiment."

Electricity separates molecules into smaller reactive parts (radicals) that
recombine with whatever they randomly encounter. Like seeing shapes in
clouds almost anything is possible, chemical thermodynamics is a study of
the probability.

Detecting organic molecules in the absorption spectra of celestial objects
is very far from an indication of life. It seems the media isn't yet up to
date on what chemists learned almost 200 years ago.

[Jim Wilkins]

"a425couple" wrote in message news:ONhRM.78301$3vM....@fx37.iad...

Webb spots a building block of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa