Two papers were published in the James Webb Space Telescope Performance Reporting Program. Both are satellite observations of Jupiter, one for Ganymede and the other for Io.
The results of the observation of Ganymede were published in Science Advanced by a research team at Cornell University in the United States. Reporting the first detection of hydrogen peroxide in the atmosphere of Ganymede. Another paper published in JGR (JGR: Planets) reports observation results approaching the sulfur monoxide generation mechanism on Io.
Both studies were realized by the James Webb Space Telescope, launched in late 2021. Both are related to the strong force Jupiter exerts on its moons. The research team said that this announcement shows that the James Webb Space Telescope can make great scientific achievements on solar system objects.
In the observation of Ganymede, the research team used the James Webb Space Telescope’s near-infrared spectrometer NIRSpec to observe how light was absorbed by hydrogen peroxide at the poles of Ganymede. Hydrogen peroxide is used for sterilization and bleaching on Earth, but it also exists on Ganymede. According to the thesis, the origin of Ganymede hydrogen peroxide is due to the interaction between Jupiter and charged particles around Ganymede and the ice covering Ganymede.
The research team says that radioactive decomposition is behind the production of hydrogen peroxide on Ganymede. Ganymede’s magnetic field does the same for particles coming from Jupiter’s magnetosphere, so that charged particles from the Sun are induced to high latitudes by the Earth’s magnetic field, resulting in auroras. It is explained that these particles not only become aurora in Ganymede, but also affect the surface of the ice.
Hydrogen peroxide has so far been detected on most of the surface of Europa, another moon of Jupiter. One reason for this is that Europa does not have a magnetic field that protects its surface from high-speed particles.
Another paper reports details of various volcanic activities on Io. A bright light from the crater or a bright eruption from the lava flow was observed. Io is the only satellite in the solar system to have volcanic activity, and this volcanic activity is caused by a phenomenon called tidal heating caused by Jupiter’s strong gravity. Importantly, the team linked this eruption to sulfur monoxide.
This is the first time that such emissions and radiation have been confirmed on top of an active volcano, and it is said that such emissions are caused by sulfur monoxide molecules immediately after exiting the crater. This observation was made on November 15, 2022, when Io was in Jupiter’s shadow, so Io’s light from Jupiter was faintly detectable first.
Most of Io’s atmosphere is made up of melted ice and gaseous sulfur dioxide. Sulfur monoxide is also emitted from volcanoes, but it is difficult to detect sulfur monoxide normally. However, when Io enters Jupiter’s shadow, the atmosphere freezes, leaving only sulfur monoxide and newly erupted burnt sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere. At this time, it became possible to observe with sulfur monoxide light.
When the research team observed Io 20 years ago, they detected a thin layer of sulfur monoxide throughout, but did not link it to volcanic activity. The source of this sulfur monoxide is claimed in a volcano that emits only gas but no dust. At that time, only high-temperature craters could detect sulfur monoxide, suggesting that it could exist long enough to emit light of a specific wavelength in a thin atmosphere.
It is said that sulfur monoxide and volcanoes are combined, and together with the hypothesis established in 2002, it explains the basis for detecting the occurrence of sulfur monoxide. The only possible explanation for this sulfur monoxide generation shows that sulfur monoxide is ejected from the crater at around 1,500 Kelvin and loses photons within seconds. Therefore, this observation was able to show, for the first time, the best structure of sulfur monoxide in practice. The research team also said that this shining phenomenon coincided with the eruption cycle of 2 to 3 months once every 500 days. The James Webb Space Telescope continues to report new information about galaxies more than 10 million light years away, as well as objects in the solar system such as the Earth. Related information hereGanymede, io) can be found in
