Is Jupiter A Water World? NASA Finds 'Abundance' As New Images Show Giant Planet As A 'Blue Marble' [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Jamie Carter Contributor




Long thought to be virtually dry, it turns out that Jupiter has significant water.

New data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft, which launched in 2011 and is orbiting the planet right now, suggests that water makes up about 0.25% of the molecules in Jupiter’s atmosphere. That’s about three times more than thought to be at the Sun.

“Just when we think we have things figured out, Jupiter reminds us how much we still have to learn,” said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

Since Jupiter was probably the first planet to form in the solar system it contains most of the gas and dust in it that isn’t now part of the Sun. As such, how much water is locked-up in Jupiter is essential for astronomers trying to understand how the solar system formed.

More:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2020/02/25/is-jupiter-a-water-world-nasa-finds-abundance-as-new-images-show-giant-planet-as-a-blue-marble/#6f1b60236bf9