Detailed data from the Jupiter probe Juno has made a sensational discovery on Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. This moon is believed to have a large ocean beneath its icy crust.
Salt and organic compounds
From a distance of just over a thousand kilometers, the Juno probe took infrared images and spectra of the moon’s surface. Evidence of salts and organic substances had previously been found from Earth, but the terrestrial images were not detailed enough to determine this with certainty. This worked well with the images from the Juno probe. The constituent substances can be found on the surface in the recorded spectra.
Cold enough
It was now found with certainty that salts and organic substances were found there. The compounds found are: hydrated (wet) sodium chloride, ammonium chloride (or sal ammonia), sodium bicarbonate and possibly also aliphatic aldehydes (pure hydrocarbons). The latter cannot be mixed with water. The ammonia salts present suggest that Ganymede may have picked up materials cold enough to condense ammonia during its formation, according to Juno collaborator F. Tosi (Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, Rome).
In the sky you can watch this week:
Sun and moon times (Saturday, November 11)
Sunrise: 7:51 am; under 4:50 p.m.
Moon at: 4:01 p.m.; bottom: 10:42 p.m.
Moon – We don’t get to see much of our faithful guardian this week. On Monday, November 13, there is a New Moon (invisible, constellation Libra) at 10:27 am. A few days later the moon will appear as a crescent in the southwestern evening sky. However, it does not reach high above the horizon.
Planets – When it starts to get dark, Saturn is low in the south-southeast. We then find Jupiter low in the east. Saturn will remain visible until it sets in the west-southwest around 12:30 AM. Jupiter remains visible all night and will be in the west in the morning. The giant planet will rise high in the sky and will not set in the west-northwest until 7 a.m. The very bright Venus can be found in the east to southeast in the morning. Venus rises in the east as early as 3:25 am. And on November 9, the crescent moon is close to it.
Meteors – The few Taurids from the direction of the constellation Taurus can currently be admired. There is a chance of a fireball, a very bright meteor. Furthermore, the Leonids from the direction of the constellation Leo are also active. This constellation is quite high in the southeast in the early morning.
More information: RP Elings, tel. 0527-699142 / 06-51931417; email: [email protected]
