What's the source of CO2 on Jupiter's moon Europa? Scientists finally have answers

Potentially bolstering chances of humans discovering suitable life conditions in our solar system, scientists have revealed that carbon dioxide detected on Jupiter's moon Europa might be comingfrom the vast ocean present beneath its icy shell.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, an upgrade on the Hubble, scientists are now assured that there is a huge ocean of saltwater, kilometres below Europa's ice-covered surface, making the moon a prime candidate for hosting extra-terrestrial life in our solar system.

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Two separate teams of scientists arrived at the same conclusion using the telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). The results of the study published in Science revealed the exact spot where the most concentrated amount of life-building CO2 was found.

"The most CO2 was in a 1,800 kilometre-wide (1,120 miles) area called Tara Regio, where there is a lot of "chaos terrain" with jagged ridges and cracks," read the study.

Although it is not understood what the chaos terrain means, one theory floating around suggests that warm water from the ocean rises up to melt the surface ice which then re-freezes over time to form uneven cracks.

Samantha Trumbo, one of the lead authors of the study told the news agency AFP that the two teamsconcluded that the carbon was "ultimately derived from the interior, likely the internal ocean".

She added that table salt has been detected in Tata Regio, which gives the area a significantly more yellow hue when compared to Europa's scarred white plains.

"So now we've got salt, we've got CO2: we're starting to learn a little bit more what that internal chemistry might look like," Trumbo said.

The resultsof the studies were appreciated by the European Space Agency which launched the Juice missionearlier this year tofind out whether these icy moons have the right conditions to support life.

Juice project scientist Olivier Witasse welcomed the two new studies, saying they were "very exciting".

Earlier hypotheses stated that the presence of CO2 on Europa could have been down to asteroids or meteorites striking the moon, orbiting the solar system's largest planet - Jupiter.

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For a long time, scientists have predicted Earth's natural satellite Moon, its neighbour Mars and Europa as the three potential candidates to have conditions hospitable for human evolution.

Although Europa is slightly smaller than Earth's moon, its ocean, perhaps 65 to 160 kilometres deep, may contain double the water present in Earth's oceans.

(With inputs from agencies)

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