NASA spot water on Jupiter while studying 350-year-old-storm

New Delhi : The scientists of NASA claims that they have detected signs of water on Jupiter, during the course of their research on a storm that has been raging the planet for over 350 years. They have spotted water above the planet’s deepest clouds. 

Experts say that the pressure of the water combined with their measurements of another oxygen-bearing gas, carbon monoxide indicate that Jupiter has two to nine times more oxygen than the Sun. The interesting findings, supported with theoretical and computer-generated models have been published in the Astronomical Journal. 

The findings say that the Great Red Spot in Jupiter is full of dense clouds, which makes it hard for electromagnetic energy to escape and teach astronomers anything about the chemistry within.

“It turns out they’re not so thick that they block our ability to see deeply,” said Gordon L Bjoraker, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The data was collected in accordance to the information gathered by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it circles the planet from north to south once every 53 days.

To inform, Juno is looking for water with its own infrared spectrometer and with a microwave radiometer that can investigate deeper than any technology used before. 

If Juno returns similar water findings, it could possibly solve the problem of water, said Goddard’s Amy Simon, a planetary atmospheres expert.

“If it works, then maybe we can apply it elsewhere, like Saturn, Uranus or Neptune, where we don’t have a Juno,” she said.

Juno spacecraft has been lifted off to probe Jupiter, like, if there is any trace of water, gas and other particles on the Jupiter. There are evidences that the plant has a core more than 10 times the mass of our Earth. Spacecraft that previously visited the planet found chemical evidence that it formed a core of rock and water ice before it mixed with gases from the solar nebula to make its atmosphere. It is believed that the planet also witness lightning and thunder fuelled by moisture.

“Jupiter’s water abundance will tell us a lot about how the giant planet formed, but only if we can figure out how much water there is in the entire planet,” said Steven M Levin, a Juno project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Possibly, scientists will come up with some more discoveries in the days to come. Let's wait and wait!