(Scientific American)
Although the red lines that appear to cross on the surface of “Moon Europa”, one of the moons revolving in the orbit of Jupiter, paint a wonderful picture that makes the moon of the largest planet in the solar system appear glowing, scientists believe that these lines are nothing but a frozen mixture of water. And salts, perhaps reveal more secrets about the possibility of life on other planets.
While the chemical composition of these formations of salt ice remained a mystery because it did not match any other known substance on Earth, a team of scientists, led by the University of Washington, believes that they have solved that mystery, by discovering a new type of solid crystal that can form when the water unites. And sodium chloride, or table salt under conditions of cold and high pressure.
A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that the new composition that scientists were able to form inside a laboratory on Earth, by mixing two of the most common substances on Earth, namely water and sodium chloride, can form on the surfaces of the deep oceans. or in their bottoms.
Baptiste Journeau, assistant professor of earth and space sciences at the University of Washington, the lead author of the study, confirms that it is rare at the present time to find basic discoveries in science, noting that salt and water are well-known substances in the natural conditions of the Earth, but far from these conditions, The results of the interactions between them seem completely ambiguous.
At low temperatures, water combines with salts to form a solid network of salt ice, known as hydrates, which is held together by hydrogen bonds. Previously, the only known formulation of sodium chloride had a simple structure containing one molecule of salt for every two molecules of water. It consists of a sodium atom and a chlorine atom, while a water molecule consists of an oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms.
However, the two new structures, which were formed under moderate pressure and low temperatures, are significantly different from the previous ones. One contains two molecules of sodium chloride for every 17 molecules of water, while the other contains one molecule of sodium chloride for every 13 molecules of water, which probably explains why the chemical signature of the surfaces of Jupiter’s moons is more watery than expected.
Journo considers that the new compositions contain the basic structure that planetary scientists were waiting for, stressing that the discovery of these new types of salt ice is of great importance, not only for researchers in the field of planetary sciences; It is also for physical chemistry sciences, as well as researchers in energy sciences, who rely on the use of solid crystals of hydrates to store energy.
It is expected that two missions will be launched to explore the icy moons of Jupiter in the near future, one of which follows the European Space Agency, and the other follows the American agency “NASA”, which is preparing to launch another mission to the moon “Titan”, which revolves in the orbit of Saturn, by 2026.
The researchers stress that providing the crews of these missions with the necessary information about the chemical compositions of the materials that are likely to be found will help them to better conduct their studies about the possibilities of life on these planets.
