The James Webb Space Telescope aimed its discerning infrared eyes at Ganymede, our Solar System's planet-like moon. What did it see?
Juno captured this image of Ganymede in July 2022. Now the JWST is taking a look at our Solar System's largest moon. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill
But even with all this knowledge of the huge moon, there are details yet to be revealed. This is especially true of its complex surface. “Following previous observations, there remain several open questions on the nature, the origin and the processes making up Ganymede’s current surface composition,” the authors of a new paper write. The JWST has the observing power to uncover answers to some of these questions.
The Galileo and Juno missions examined Ganymede’s surface chemistry, as have ground telescopes. But there are still outstanding questions. “Following previous observations, there remain several open questions on the nature, the origin and the processes making up Ganymede’s current surface composition,” the authors write.
When it comes to water ice, the JWST found that there’s more of it directly exposed at the polar regions. These regions are where energetic ions from Jupiter irradiate Ganymede’s surface. The authors write that it can be explained by “… the combination of micro-meteoroid gardening, excavating the ice, and ion irradiation.” That’s followed by water-vapour re-accreting on top of non-ice materials, forming purer water ice which the JWST easily detected.
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