What is Ganymede?
Ganymede is the satellite of Jupiter; it is the enormous moon in the solar system and larger than the planet of mercury and a little smaller than mars. It is the largest example of an icy moon in our solar system and the only moon with its own magnetic field.
It was discovered by Galileo Galilee on January 7, 1610.
The physical characteristic of Ganymede :
Mean radius: 2634.1+0.3km
Radius : 2,634.1 km
Distance to earth: 628.3 million km
Gravity : 1.428 m/s2
Orbital period: 172 hrs
Orbits: Jupiter
Oxygen and life on Ganymede :
The astronomer used the Hubble space telescope to found evidence of a thin oxygen atmosphere on Ganymede in 1996. The atmosphere is too thin to support life as we know it. In 2004 scientists discoverable irregular lumps beneath the icy surface of Ganymede.
So, there is not any oxygen to breathe. The temperature on the surface is shallow, -179 0 C. There are so cold that water on the surface freezes, and the ocean lies roughly 160 km below the crust.
Another organic compound
Near-infrared and ultraviolet surveys have also revealed carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and possibly Nitrinles, cyanogens, hydrogen sulfate, and various organic compound.
Days and hours on Ganymede :
Ganymede completes a revolution every seven days, and their hours are like most moons locked, with one side always facing towards, Ganymede is tidally the planet, hence day is seven day and three hours, means there are 172 hours in one year on Ganymede.
Possibility of water vapor on Ganymede :
It’s the first time, on 28 July 2021, water has been detected on Jupiter’s moon Ganymede by the Hubble space telescope. It was suspected for a long, but now the Hubble telescope seems to have pinpointed that fact. In fact, Hubble has found strong evidence of water vapor on Ganymede.
Evidence of water vapor on Ganymede :
It is being argued that the water vapor has come from ice on Ganymede, which turned to vapor in a process known as sublimation ice never manages to turn into a liquid form there due to the extreme cold.
Lorenz Roth of the KTH royal institute of technology in Stockholm, as part of the Juno mission in 2018, decided to measure the amount of atomic oxygen with Hubble. “So far, only molecular oxygen had been observed. Contrary to past observations, astronomers discovered there was hardly any atomic oxygen in Ganymede’s atmosphere, hinting that there must be another explanation for the apparent differences. Temperature varies strongly throughout the day, and around noon near the equator, it may become sufficiently warm, releasing small amounts of water molecules. This is produced when charged particles erode the ice surface. " Roth explained that the water vapor that we measured now originates from ice sublimation caused by the thermal escape of water vapor from warm icy regions,” Roth explained.
Why previous research failed to detect water on Ganymede :
Previous research failed to detect water in Ganymede’s atmosphere because the ultraviolet signal from molecule oxygen is powerful. “Within this stronger oxygen signal, it’s hard to find other signals,” Roth said.
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