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Judi Lynn

(160,555 posts)
Wed Feb 26, 2020, 05:27 AM Feb 2020

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


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
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Is Jupiter A Water World? NASA Finds 'Abundance' As New Images Show Giant Planet As A 'Blue Marble' (Original Post) Judi Lynn Feb 2020 OP
Wow. Silver Gaia Feb 2020 #1
Jupiter is a really ugly planet. denem Feb 2020 #2
Really? Silver Gaia Feb 2020 #3
Agreed. It is a fascinating place.... AZ8theist Feb 2020 #8
Me too! Dem2theMax Feb 2020 #10
Seems reasonable. trotsky Feb 2020 #4
Wait - WHAT??? packman Feb 2020 #5
Apparently, but only briefly... FiveGoodMen Feb 2020 #6
Thanks for the explain - Too much to comprehend on an early morning packman Feb 2020 #7
More interesting info, as usual...thanks for keeping us in the loop!❤ Karadeniz Feb 2020 #9
Awesome, it so so much more beautiful than any decipiction has shown previously. lark Feb 2020 #11
Pretty!! BlancheSplanchnik Feb 2020 #12
Danger! joho260 Feb 2020 #13
You could still melt that with a fire and it turned back to normal water. FiveGoodMen Feb 2020 #14
 

denem

(11,045 posts)
2. Jupiter is a really ugly planet.
Wed Feb 26, 2020, 08:26 AM
Feb 2020

I have always thought so, but the high resolution photos are ... yeek.

trotsky

(49,533 posts)
4. Seems reasonable.
Wed Feb 26, 2020, 09:23 AM
Feb 2020

Lots of water in comets, and Jupiter has been known to absorb more than a few of those.

 

packman

(16,296 posts)
5. Wait - WHAT???
Wed Feb 26, 2020, 12:08 PM
Feb 2020

"That’s about three times more than thought to be at the Sun" Are they saying the sun, that big , hot ball of fusion, has WATER molecules in it?

FiveGoodMen

(20,018 posts)
6. Apparently, but only briefly...
Wed Feb 26, 2020, 12:24 PM
Feb 2020
The strong magnetic fields affect pushes most of the sun's gas aside, creating a slightly less hot space in the middle of the spot. There, things are just cool enough for the remaining atoms, including oxygen and hydrogen, to momentarily bond.

This doesn't mean that there are liquid oceans on the sun, of course. It's still too hot for that. In fact, it's still so hot that if you could throw a hunk of iron into the center of a sunspot, it would immediately vaporize.

So, no one water molecule lasts for very long. Sunspots do contain trace amounts of H2O in vapor form, and that's still water on the sun!

https://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/water-on-the-sun.php

lark

(23,123 posts)
11. Awesome, it so so much more beautiful than any decipiction has shown previously.
Thu Feb 27, 2020, 09:28 AM
Feb 2020

I have never seen Jupiter depicted with any blue at all, this is fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

FiveGoodMen

(20,018 posts)
14. You could still melt that with a fire and it turned back to normal water.
Thu Feb 27, 2020, 02:00 PM
Feb 2020

This would be about ICE 9000

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