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科学家找到探索木卫二海洋的窗口

(2013-03-13 13:22:02)
标签:

杂谈

分类: 科学与技术

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/3234/week_1/03072013_pia16826-640-600.jpg

2013.03.11

如果能舔一下木星的冰冷卫星木卫二的表面,实际上就等于采集下面海洋的样本。

如果能舔一下木星冰冷的卫星木卫二(Europa)的表面,实际上就等于采集下面海洋的样本。由位于加利福尼亚州帕萨迪纳市(Pasadena)的加州理工学院(California Institute of Technology)的天文学家迈克•布朗(Mike Brown)和同在帕萨迪纳市的美国国家航空航天局(NASA)喷气推进实验室(Jet Propulsion Laboratory)的凯文•汉德(Kevin Hand)最新发表的一篇论文,以迄今为止最强有力的证据详细说明,木卫二冻结的外表之下浩瀚的液态海洋中的咸水实际已经到达表层面。

这一结果是基于自从美国国家航空航天局开展研究木星及其卫星的伽利略使命(Galileo mission)(1989年至2003年)以来获得的最佳此类数据。它表明,在海洋与表层面之间存在着一种化学交换过程,这使海洋成为一个更加丰富的化学环境。这项工作在一篇已被《天文期刊》(The Astronomical Journal)接受出版的论文中得到描述。

据布朗介绍,海洋与表层面之间的交换“意味着能量可能会进入海洋,这一点对于在那里存在生命的可能性来说具有重要意义。它还意味着,如果想知道海洋中有些什么,可从表面做些取样。”

这幅艺术家构思的图景展示了木卫二海洋中的水可能以怎样的方式到达表面。

研究人员的这项工作得到了设在加利福尼亚州莫菲特菲尔德(Moffett Field)的美国国家航空航天局艾姆斯研究中心(NASA’s Ames Research Center)的美国国家航空航天局天体生物学研究所(NASA Astrobiology Institute)的支持。该天体生物学研究所体现着美国国家航空航天局、15个美国研究团队和13个国际联盟的合作关系。

汉德解释说:“如果说我们对地球上的生命有所了解的话,那就是,哪里有液态的水,一般来说哪里就有生命。当然,我们的海洋是一个很好的咸海洋。或许土卫二的咸海洋也是一个有生命存在的好地方。”



Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/chinese/inbrief/2013/03/20130311143895.html#ixzz2NOW11Ga0

Scientists Find Window into Europa’s Ocean

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/3234/week_1/03072013_pia16826-640-600.jpg

07 March 2013

If you could lick the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, you would actually be sampling a bit of the ocean beneath.

If you could lick the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, you would actually be sampling a bit of the ocean beneath. A new paper by Mike Brown, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, and Kevin Hand from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also in Pasadena, details the strongest evidence yet that salty water from the vast liquid ocean beneath Europa’s frozen exterior actually makes its way to the surface.

The finding, based on some of the best data of its kind since NASA’s Galileo mission (1989 to 2003) to study Jupiter and its moons, suggests there is a chemical exchange between the ocean and surface, making the ocean a richer chemical environment. The work is described in a paper that has been accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal.

The exchange between the ocean and the surface, Brown said, “means that energy might be going into the ocean, which is important in terms of the possibilities for life there. It also means that if you’d like to know what’s in the ocean, you can just go to the surface and scrape some off.”

This artist’s conception shows how water from Europa’s ocean might make it to the surface.

The researchers’ work was supported by the NASA Astrobiology Institute at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. The Astrobiology Institute is a partnership among NASA, 15 U.S. teams and 13 international consortia.

“If we’ve learned anything about life on Earth, it’s that where there’s liquid water, there’s generally life,” Hand said. “And of course our ocean is a nice, salty ocean. Perhaps Europa’s salty ocean is also a wonderful place for life.”



Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/inbrief/2013/03/20130307143772.html#ixzz2NOW4jo3m

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