Life on Giant Planets & Their Moons

Stephen Eikenberry 28 October 2010 AST 2037

The Jovian Planets

much larger than terrestrial planets not solid - gaseous all all have rings all have many moons

Jupiter Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Jupiter
Named after the most powerful Roman god third-brightest thi d b i ht t object bj t in i the th night sky (after the Moon and Venus) Atmospheric bands are very different than inner planets Many Many moons four largest called Galilean Moons

Saturn
Named after the father of Jupiter in Greco-Roman mythology Almost twice Jupiter Jupiters s distance from the Sun Similar banded atmosphere Uniform butterscotch hue Many M moons Spectacular ring system

Uranus
Discovered by William H Herschel h l in i 1781 Named after father of Saturn y visible to naked eye y Barely Featureless atmosphere Deviations in the expected orbit of Uranus pointed to the possibility of another planet influencing its motion

Neptune
There had to be another planet influencing Uranus 1845 - John Adams determined the planets mass and orbit 10 0 months o s later e -U Urbain b Leverrier, eve e , independently depe de y came c e up with w the e same result 1846 - Johann Galle found the new planet Neptune Cannot be seen with naked eye Bluish Jupiter atmosphere

Space Craft Exploration of Jovian Planets

Voyager 1and 2 left Earth in 1977 reached Jupiter in March and July of 1979 Used Jupiters strong gravity to send them on to Saturn - gravity assist Voyager V 2 used d Saturns S gravity i to propel l it i to Uranus U and d then h on to Neptune N Studied planetary magnetic fields and analyzed multi-wavelength radiation Both are now headed out into interstellar space!

Space Craft Exploration of Jovian Planets

Galileo - launched in 1989 and reached Jupiter in December 1995 Gravity assists from Venus and Earth Two components: atmospheric h i probe b and d orbiter bi Probe descended into Jupiters atmosphere Orbiter went through g moon system y

Cassini C i i mission i i to Saturn S Studying Saturns moon Titan in much the same way y as Galileo studied Jupiter

Jovian Planet Properties

Most of their mass is Hydrogen and Helium light elements = low densities High surface gravity allows their atmospheres to retain these light elements Dense compact core at the center But, NO SOLID SURFACE gaseous atmosphere becomes denser (eventually liquid) at core Differential Rotation outer regions rotate slower than inner regions

Jovian planets

- axis tilt and magnetic fields

Uranus has the most inclined rotational axis - extreme seasons! All appear to have strong magnetic fields - rapid rotation and liquid conductive cores or mantles

Jupiters Atmosphere Two main features: colored bands and Great Red Spot
molecular hydrogen 86% helium 14% small amounts of methane, ammonia, and water vapor
Darker colored belts lie atop downward moving convective cells Lighter zones are above upward moving cells Belts are low-pressure, Zones are high pressure As on Earth, wind moves from high to low But But rotation causes wind patterns to move East/West along equator Temperature difference between bands is main reason for color difference

Jupiters Atmosphere

Haze Haze lies at the upper edge of the troposphere Thin layer y of white ammonia clouds 125 150 K Colored clouds below that
Warmer W - 200 K clouds are mostly droplets or crystals of ammonium hydrosulfide At deeper p levels, , clouds of water ice or water vapor

The Galileo probe survived for about an hour before being crushed at t this thi altitude. ltit d

Weather on Jupiter
Main weather feature Great Red Spot! swirling hurricane winds has h lasted l t d over 300 years! ! diameter twice that of Earth rotates with planets interior the spot appears to be confined and powered by the zonal flow

Smaller storms look like white ovals (this one is over 40 years old)

Why do the storms last so long? On Earth, hurricanes lose power when then come upon land N continents No i on J Jupiter i nothing hi to stop them h once they h start

Saturns Atmosphere
molecular hydrogen 92.4% helium 7.4% traces of methane and ammonia

Layer of haze Troposphere contains 3 cloud layers

ammonia ice ammonium hydrosulfide ice water ice

Overall temperature is cooler than Jupiter Atmosphere thickness is 3 times that of Jupiter (caused by lower surface gravity on Saturn) Thicker clouds result in less varied visible colors

W th on S Weather Saturn t
Computer p enhanced image g shows bands, oval storm systems, y and turbulent flow patterns like those seen on Jupiter

Atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune

molecular molecular hydrogen 84% helium 14% methane 2% (Uranus) 3% (Neptune)

Abundance of methane g gives these p planets their blue color

Methane absorbs longer wavelength light (red) and reflects short wavelength light (blue)

Weather on Uranus and Neptune

Uranus
Few clouds in the cold upper atmosphere featureless Upper pp layer y of haze blocks out the lower, , warmer clouds

Neptune
Upper atmosphere is slightly warmer than Uranus (despite its further distance from Sun) More visible i ibl features f (thinner ( hi haze, h less l dense clouds lie higher) Storms Great Dark Spot Seen in 1989 gone in 1994

Internal Structures models that fit the data

M t lli hydrogen Metallic h d is i like lik liquid li id metal t l

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus/Neptune

Increasing temperature and pressure deeper in core Jupiter bulges at radius (7% larger) Saturn less assymetric larger core same basic overall structure on a smaller scale p have a high g density y slush below cloud level Uranus/Neptune compressed water clouds

Internal Heating
Primordial Heat -Jupiters heat source results from strong heating during formation by the collapse ll of f material t i l onto t the th core Generation of Heat -Saturn S generates some h heat d due to the h gravitational contraction of helium gas Effect of internal heating - raises the temperature of the interior and atmosphere to higher values than expected g alone from the Suns heating

Life on the Giant Planets?

We see lots of life chemicals! (Water, methane, etc.) Lightning observed too Similar to early Earth atmosphere (?) Expect complex hydrocarbons (Urey (Urey-Miller) Miller) (?) At some depth, have warm temps (~300K) But these temps at high pressure Methane is not a sign of life here just a sign of LOTS of free hydrogen, some carbon, relatively little oxygen No solid surface no oceans, no tidal pools, no clay matrix in short, no (Earth-like) places for life formation

Life on the Giant Planets?

What about gas matrix life? (i.e. no solid surface, but life in the air) Wind speed turbulence problem try to put together a house of cards outdoors in a hurricane Thats easier than forming life in Jupiters atmosphere! Convection Causes any chemicals from warm lower layers to rise This gives exposure to solar UV radiation, which breaks it down

Does this mean NO life here?

Nope Floater possibility But, But this is pure speculation

Moons
Almost all moons in y orbit the Solar System the Jovian planets Jupiters p 4 major j moons are the Galilean satellites: Io, Europa Callisto, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede Jupiter has 100s 100 s of smaller moons

Io
Innermost Galilean satellite Reddish color Smooth S th young surface Extreme E t volcanic l i activity Interior I t i tidally tid ll h heated t d by Jupiter (& Europa)

Io Tidal Heating

Europa
Second S d Galilean G lil satellite Whitish, Whiti h hi highlyhl reflective color Smooth S th surface f with ith patterns similar to ice caps on Earth Young surface May be a liquid Ma liq id waterworld with ice crust

Life on Europa?
Possible view of Europan ocean Note thermal segregation

Life on Europa?

Europa seabed may resemble black smoker environment on Earth (!) Probably y little O2 in the water ( (where would it come from?) ) But anaerobic bacteria are the basis for life in Earth vents (even if larger life O2-dependent) NASA developing preliminary plans for a drilling/submarine exploration mission

Callisto & Ganymede

Rock/ice moons Evidence E id f for some glacial flows

Saturns Titan
Largest moon Smooth S th surface f due d to thick atmosphere (!) Infrared I f d images i show h evidence for continents beneath

Titans Surface

Lakes of liquid hydrocarbon imaged from orbit via Cassini; T ~85K (p (probably y ethane/methane) ) Huygens lander mission in 2006

Titans Surface

Lakes of liquid hydrocarbon imaged from orbit via Cassini Huygens lander mission in 2006

Life on Titan?

Solid/liquid phase environment similar to Earths surface Totally different chemicals and temp ranges; will not be H2Obased like on Earth But still a possibility

Neptunes Triton
Largest Neptunian moon Retrograde orbit O bit l tilt 20 Orbital 20-degrees d Could indicate KBO origin i i ??

Other moons

Enceladus
Saturn moon W t here Water h too? t ?

Enceladus
Saturn moon W t here Water h too? t ?

Summary
The Giant Planets lack solid surfaces and have extreme wind speed, turbulence and convection in their atmospheres Still .. we cannot rule out life there (floaters?) Moons such as Europa and Enceladus may have liquid water oceans with Earth-like temperatures and geothermal vents; these may be promising places to search for life The moon Titan has a thick atmosphere and (apparently) lakes/rivers of liquid hydrocarbons; temps p are COLD, , but we can imagine g some lowtemperature, slow-reaction life developing here too (?)
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