Europa is definitely the most exciting part of the solar system that sparks imagination. Literally 100s of miles of pitch black ocean with thermal vents, ripe for life. Getting kiddy thinking about the leviathan sized aliens roaming the deep ocean of Europa. Does anyone else feel this way?
NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
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Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
There’s an image of Europa from Webb in the article.
It's less clear than I'd expected. Is that image deliberately downscaled so as to not reveal the true capabilities of the telescope optics?
No. JWST is not a spy satellite. Everybody gets the images as measured. Different instruments have different resolutions.
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#23An aside, but hovering over the image only to have it obscured... and then smaller on click, is a little comical.
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#24This is obviously a ginormous leap from this announcement and just a tangent sparked by it. The possibility of intelligent life developing on a world like Europa encrusted with what is effectively a miles think solid atmosphere has always been one of my favorite feasible sci-fi hypotheticals. Could you imagine how that would impact their culture? Would they even know there is anything on the other side of the ice? Th…
For comparison, the furthest we've dug down is about 8 miles, and Europa's ice crust is estimated to be 10-15 miles. So, yeah that would be like us getting discovered by mole people from nearly twice the depth we're capable of reaching. It's fun to think about what a civilization on Europa would think about their world. You can go up, but it gets colder and the pressure gets lower. It'd be like trying to go to space, but you have to dig to get there. Perhaps the change in density would make any such upward drilling unstable and beyond their means.
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#25“All these worlds are yours - except Europa. Attempt no landing there.” You have been warned guys… ;)
Honestly, the only thing I wish to see before I die is a submarine mission to Europa or Ganymede. It would be even more mind blowing and an amazing achievement for humanity, and the search for extraterrestrial life.
That, and the dragonfly-helicopter-thing on Titan. Have you ever seen the Sun set on a methane lake?
It's time for a rewatch of Europa Report (2013).
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#26This is obviously a ginormous leap from this announcement and just a tangent sparked by it. The possibility of intelligent life developing on a world like Europa encrusted with what is effectively a miles think solid atmosphere has always been one of my favorite feasible sci-fi hypotheticals. Could you imagine how that would impact their culture? Would they even know there is anything on the other side of the ice? Th…
For comparison, the furthest we've dug down is about 8 miles, and Europa's ice crust is estimated to be 10-15 miles. So, yeah that would be like us getting discovered by mole people from nearly twice the depth we're capable of reaching. It's fun to think about what a civilization on Europa would think about their world. You can go up, but it gets colder and the pressure gets lower. It'd be like trying to go to space,…
No need to dig, you just melt yourself downwards. It's not exactly like digging through rocks on Earth.
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#27An aside, but hovering over the image only to have it obscured... and then smaller on click, is a little comical.
And then if you click on "Expand" (after clicking on the click which makes it smaller), it is restored to its original size.
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#28This is obviously a ginormous leap from this announcement and just a tangent sparked by it. The possibility of intelligent life developing on a world like Europa encrusted with what is effectively a miles think solid atmosphere has always been one of my favorite feasible sci-fi hypotheticals. Could you imagine how that would impact their culture? Would they even know there is anything on the other side of the ice? Th…
The relevant sci-fi is the planet of Krikkit from the 3rd Hitch-Hikers book, Life, the Universe, and Everything. On that world, life evolved under a permanent blanket of cloud. At no point did they ever see the stars, or think that there might be something of interest above them. Until one day they sent up a rocket which penetrated the dust cloud, and for the first time they became aware of the rest of the universe.
Their response? “It’ll have to go.”
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
There’s an image of Europa from Webb in the article.
It's less clear than I'd expected. Is that image deliberately downscaled so as to not reveal the true capabilities of the telescope optics?
Not reveal the true capabilities? Is this an RPG reference?
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
There’s an image of Europa from Webb in the article.
It's less clear than I'd expected. Is that image deliberately downscaled so as to not reveal the true capabilities of the telescope optics?
It's as designed:
"Both teams identified the carbon dioxide using data from the integral field unit of Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec). This instrument mode provides spectra with a resolution of 200 x 200 miles (320 x 320 kilometers) on the surface of Europa, which has a diameter of 1,944 miles"