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Onderwerp: Jupiter's Moon Callisto May Hide Salty Ocean
Douglas Isbell
Headquarters, Washington, DC October 21, 1998
(Phone: 202/358-1753)
Jane Platt
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone: 818/354-5011)
RELEASE: 98-192
JUPITER'S MOON CALLISTO MAY HIDE SALTY OCEAN
Jupiter's second largest moon, Callisto, may have a liquid
ocean tucked under its icy, cratered crust, according to
scientists studying data gathered by NASA's Galileo spacecraft.
The Galileo findings, to be published in the Oct. 22
issue of the journal Nature, reveal similarities between Callisto
and another of Jupiter's moons, Europa, which has already
displayed strong evidence of a subsurface ocean.
"Until now, we thought Callisto was a dead and boring moon,
just a hunk of rock and ice," said Dr. Margaret Kivelson, space
physics professor at the University of California at Los Angeles
(UCLA) and principal investigator for Galileo's magnetometer
instrument, which measures magnetic fields around Jupiter and its
moons. "The new data certainly suggest that something is hidden
below Callisto's surface, and that something may very well be a
salty ocean."
This premise was inspired by Galileo data indicating that
electrical currents flowing near Europa's surface cause changes in
Europa's magnetic field. "This seemed to fit nicely with other
data supporting the idea that beneath Europa's icy crust, a liquid
ocean might be serving as a conductor of electricity," said
Kivelson.
Armed with that information, Kivelson and UCLA colleagues
Drs. Krishan K. Khurana, Raymond J. Walker, and Christopher T.
Russell set out to test a similar theory about Callisto, "although
it seemed far-fetched at the time," Kivelson said. The team went
back and studied data obtained during Galileo's flybys of Callisto
in November 1996, and June and September of 1997.
Kivelson and her colleagues found signs that Callisto's
magnetic field, like Europa's, is variable, which can be explained
by the presence of varying electrical currents associated with
Jupiter that flow near Callisto's surface. Their next challenge
was to discover the source of the currents.
"Because Callisto's atmosphere is extremely tenuous and
lacking in charged particles, it would not be sufficient to
generate Callisto's magnetic field; nor would Callisto's icy crust
be a good conductor, but there very well could be a layer of
melted ice underneath," Kivelson said. "If this liquid were salty
like Earth's oceans, it could carry sufficient electrical currents
to produce the magnetic field."
Lending further credence to the premise of a subsurface ocean
on Callisto, Galileo data showed that electrical currents were
flowing in opposite directions at different times. "This is a key
signature consistent with the idea of a salty ocean," Khurana
added, "because it shows that Callisto's response, like Europa's,
is synchronized with the effects of Jupiter's rotation."
Although scientists consider the possible presence of an
ocean on Europa as one factor hinting that life could have
developed there at some point, it is doubtful that Callisto could
harbor life, according to Galileo Project Scientist Dr. Torrence
Johnson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA.
"The basic ingredients for life -- what we call 'pre-biotic
chemistry' -- are abundant in many solar system objects, such as
comets, asteroids and icy moons," Johnson explained. "Biologists
believe liquid water and energy are then needed to actually
support life, so it's exciting to find another place where we
might have liquid water. But, energy is another matter, and
currently, Callisto's ocean is only being heated by radioactive
elements, whereas Europa has tidal energy as well," from its
greater proximity to Jupiter.
Galileo flies by Callisto four more times between May and
September of 1999, which may yield more clues about the
possibility of a Callisto ocean. However, Kivelson said that
scientists will rely heavily on theoretical models to test their
interpretations about Callisto.
Kivelson and her team also are reexamining magnetometer data
from Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede, to address the tantalizing
concept that Callisto and Europa may not be the only moons of
Jupiter with subsurface oceans.
The latest Galileo exterior images of Callisto, released on
Oct. 13, and a new artist's concept of a cutaway view of the
moon's interior are available on the Internet at the Galileo
website: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo
Galileo has been in orbit around Jupiter, studying the huge
planet, its moons and its magnetic environment, for over 2 1/2
years. It is currently in the midst of a two-year extension known
as the Galileo Europa Mission. Galileo is managed by JPL for
NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is a division
of Caltech, Pasadena, CA.
-end-
.
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