Blog 7- Methanogens and Life on Enceladus

Recently, a NASA reported suggested that one of Saturn’s moons, Enceladus, could be a world that may be conducive to supporting life (source).  Enceladus, which is covered in ice and significantly farther from the Sun than the Earth is, may not seem like a world where one might suspect life to be able to develop.  However, it is believed that conditions may exist on Enceladus that are similar to conditions that gave rise to early forms of life on Earth, namely in the form of a kind of extremophile called a methanogen.

Methanogens are microorganisms that are believed to have developed in hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, and are thought to be the earliest kind of life on Earth.  They do not need Oxygen, and create methane by consuming Hydrogen and Carbon Dioxide (source).  The Cassini mission has found that the conditions on Enceladus, which has a heated core and a subsurface ocean, are likely sufficient to support this kind of life.

To me, it is extraordinary that conditions on a distant, icy Saturnian moon may be, at least in some ways, analogous to some conditions on Earth (specifically with regard to hydrothermal vents and the subsequent development of methanogens).  With the incredible amount of biodiversity on Earth, I would not be surprised if we continue to discover different kinds of extremophiles that may be able to survive in very disparate kinds of climates observed throughout the Solar System.

Enceladus, which may be able to support methanogens, like those found in hydrothermal vents on Earth. Source

 

Blog 5-Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot- a huge storm in Jupiter’s atmosphere- has been ongoing for seemingly as long as people have pointed their telescopes toward the planet; this means that the storm has continued for at least approximately 400 years, and most likely more.  The storm itself is twice Earth’s size.  It is known that storms on Jupiter are significantly more intense than storms on Earth.  This can be explained by the fact that since Jupiter’s surface consists of a “liquid ocean of hydrogen”, there is no solid surface that can work to decrease the severity of storms, as there is on Earth (source).

Jupiter’s atmosphere consists primarily of Hydrogen and Helium, with a small amount of water, ammonia, and ammonia hydrosulfide (source).  It is believed that the ammonia compounds color the Great Red Spot. However, scientists are perplexed by the fact that the Great Red Spot has so much color, when ammonia and ammonia hydrosulfide only make up a very small percentage of Jupiter’s atmosphere.  To find out more about this issue, scientists at Goddard have conducted experiments about whether cosmic rays or UV radiation from the Sun react with ammonia compounds in a way that could explain the colorization of the Great Red Spot.  Ultimately, while some studies have been conducted, it will be imperative to design experiments that more closely mimic conditions on Jupiter if we want to learn more about this intriguing, and enduring, storm system.  This could be valuable, as learning more about the atmospheric conditions of Jupiter could help the scientific community in their future studies on different extrasolar planets.

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Blog 4- Voyager Missions and Chuck Berry

Music fans around the world mourned the loss of Chuck Berry after his death on March 18th.  Credited by many as the original rocker, his use of the double stop, his stage presence, and masterful songwriting skills came to define what a rocker should aspire to emulate.

When the Voyager Program was officially kicked off in August, 1977, Berry was already a living music legend.  The Voyager Program was initially launched in 1977 so as to explore the Jovian planets efficiently; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune were favorably aligned at this time.  The data collected from the Voyager missions has been very important;  their proximity to the outer planets has allowed the science community to more efficiently collect data about them, and map their features in ways that were previously impossible through only earth-based examination.  Their studies of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have proved invaluable.

The Voyager story did not end with an exploration of the outer planets.  They have continued their journey, and are now exploring interstellar space, which is the space in between star systems in a galaxy.  The Voyager probes have traveled farther than any other spacecraft launched from Earth.

To bring this back to Chuck Berry: When the Voyager probes were launched, a “Golden Record” was included, which had songs that were considered to be important and would be played if the probe ever encountered intelligent extra-terrestrial life.  On this record was “Johnny B. Goode”.

Below is the letter that Carl Sagan wrote to Chuck Berry on his 60th birthday.

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