NASA discovers carbon source on Jupiter’s moon Europa

The discovery is significant in the search for life beyond Earth
Researcher: "Carbon is a biologically essential element"
NASA plans dozens of close flybys of Europa to further investigate

Updated: Oct 1, 2023 / 01:49 PM CDT

This image made available by NASA in 2014 shows Jupiter’s icy moon Europa in a reprocessed color view, made from images captured by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. NASA’s Juno spacecraft made the closest approach to Jupiter’s tantalizing, icy moon Europa in more than 20 years on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute via AP)

(NewsNation) — NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made a groundbreaking discovery on Jupiter’s moon Europa, unveiling the presence of a significant carbon source on its icy surface.

According to NASA, the discovery of carbon dioxide holds significant implications for the search for life beyond Earth and our understanding of Europa’s complex geology.

“On Earth, life likes chemical diversity – the more diversity, the better,” said Geronimo Villanueva of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “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.”

Europa, one of Jupiter’s largest moons, has long fascinated scientists due to its potential to host subsurface oceans beneath its icy crust.

“We now think that we have observational evidence that the carbon we see on Europa’s surface came from the ocean,” said Samantha Trumbo of Cornell University. “That’s not a trivial thing. Carbon is a biologically essential element.”

NASA plans to launch its Europa Clipper spacecraft this month, which will perform dozens of close flybys of Europa to further investigate whether it could have conditions suitable for life.