Almost like the sun. Scientists believe that young and very bright Jupiter is burning its moons

A team of astronomers led by Carver Birson of Arizona State University in the USA presented their new study of the four main moons of Jupiter and Galilean moons Europa, Io, Ganymede and Callisto. Scientists believe that Jupiter was so bright at the very beginning of its existence that it burned 4 of its main moons with its radiation, which explains their different compositions, writes ScienceAlert.

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According to Birson and colleagues, their work offers a new and as plausible explanation for the unusual compositional differences in Jupiter’s four major moons, which are thought to have arisen from the same disk of gas and dust that surrounded the planet in its early days.

The astronomers concluded that the newly formed Jupiter was so bright that its radiation burned these moons, causing a large amount of water to evaporate there. So it is this radiation that can explain why the volcanic moon Io, the ice-covered Europa and Ganymede, and the Callisto moon, which has the largest number of craters in the solar system, differ from each other.

Birosn said that after the formation of Jupiter and its main moons, the gas giant began to shine very brightly, about 10,000 times brighter than it is now. Of course, it didn’t emit as much light as the Sun, for example, but there was enough light that Io and Europa, which were closer to the planet, for example, reflected radiation from Jupiter rather than the Sun.

Scientists have suggested that billions of years ago all four of Jupiter’s moons were closer to the planet than they are now, meaning the gas giant’s influence was greater. This is especially true for its strong radiation.

According to Birson, Io had a large amount of water ice in its composition after formation was complete. But then the temperature on the surface of the satellite changed, the ice began to melt, the oceans of liquid water began to evaporate, which led to the formation of an atmosphere of water vapor.

Even today, Io is unable to keep gases from volcanic eruptions in its atmosphere. They quickly fly to Jupiter, and after interacting with particles, aurora appear in the atmosphere of the planet. Scientists believe that the same thing happened after the formation of Io, only water vapor flew into space. Therefore, now Io is the most thirsty world in the solar system.

As for Europa, Jupiter’s influence on this moon was slightly less, allowing for the preservation of a thick surface ice sheet and a subterranean ocean. But scientists believe the modern ocean on this moon is just a puddle compared to the amount of water that was there billions of years ago. Jupiter’s powerful radiation evaporated most of this water.

As for the moons of Ganymede and Callisto, they now have approximately the same amount of ice and stone in their composition. That is, the early strong radiation of Jupiter did not affect them much, but scientists believe that to some extent their distinguishing features, including, may have formed for this reason.

According to Birson, to explain the differences in water ice density and amount in Jupiter’s four main moons, it is necessary to take into account the warming process of the planet by radiation from its moons in the very distant past.

What Io, the most volcanic moon in the solar system, looks like right now, as previously written, can be gained from new images taken by the Juno spacecraft. Focus.

Moreover Focus He wrote that scientists have found an explanation for the existence of strange red streaks covering Europa’s surface.