Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Sep 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998psrd.repte..22t&link_type=abstract
Planetary Science Research Discoveries
Mathematics
Logic
Europa, Jupiter, Geology, Galileo, Near-Infrared, Spectrometer
Scientific paper
Pictures of Jupiter's moon Europa taken by the Galileo spacecraft during the past couple of years have suggested to scientists that there is now, or was in the past, an ocean beneath the satellite's frozen crust. Now a team from the University of Hawaii, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey, and STI Inc. may have given us our first glimpse at the chemical composition of that ocean. Using data obtained by the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) carried by Galileo, Thomas McCord (U. Hawaii) and his colleagues examined darker regions on the surface and compared the spacecraft data to numerous chemical compounds. Their analysis indicates that the darker areas are most likely composed of deposits of salty minerals such as sulfates and carbonates. McCord and his associates believe that the minerals formed when ocean water erupted onto the surface and then evaporated, leaving behind salty deposits. They hope that further research will allow them to determine the chemical composition of Europa's hidden ocean and assess the likelihood that life could have formed in it.
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