Chemistry of Life 3 - MT1 Flashcards
(33 cards)
Europa
A moon of Jupiter with a surface layer of water ice of unknown thickness
What does Europa have and what does it imply?
- A weak magnetic field
- It implies a lunar-wide conducting liquid, but it does not have a core of molten metal
What does Europa have?
A rocky seafloor that is geologically active
How can you tell if something has a salty ocean?
It has a weak magnetic field
Hydrothermal vents
Upwelling of heat from the seafloor
What will NASA’s Europa clipper study?
It will study the European Ocean and analyze material ejected into space from geysers on the moon
What will the projected lander in 2030’s include?
A seismometer to study ice-quakes on the surface crust and currents in the ocean
Enceladus
A moon of Saturn, which also has an ocean of salty liquid water underneath an icy surface crust
What is near the South Pole of Enceladus?
Over 100 geysers shooting water ice and water vapour into space
What is present in the material shot from the geysers? (2)
- Salt
2. Organic molecules
What mission is in the works right now to bring particles back to earth for analyzing?
Low Cost Enceladus Sample Return Mission (LCESRM)
Why does LCESRM make many stops before actually landing on Saturn?
In order to get enough velocity to propel is there
- makes for a less expensive cost
- think this is the best bet for future study
What is the challenge with the LCESRM?
Coming home there is a lot of G force, so they have to figure out how to slow it down
Calisto and Ganymede
Moons of Jupiter; perhaps have water oceans between layers of ice
Why is there less interest for Calisto and Ganymede?
Because there is no geological activity due to the ocean between ice layers
Titan
A moon of saturn
- the first one ever discovered
What is in Titans dense atmosphere? (2)
- Rich with N2
- Little bit of CH4
- no CO2, O2 or water
What features does Titan have? (2)
- Rocky surface with geological activity
2. Land forms (eg. mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes)
What can evaporate into the atmosphere, and what does it turn into?
- Methane
- Can fall as methane rain
How can we look for life outside the solar system?
The next generation space telescope –> James Webb Space Telescope
What will the James Webb Space Telescope search for?
Will search the atmosphere of extrasolar earth like planets, looking for chemical signatures of life
- it is an infrared telescopes
Hubble trouble
Images were not very clear
SETI
Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence
Why does SETI have less relevance to chemistry?
Because the evidence of life we might be able to detect somewhere else would be technological signals from intelligent life
