Where Shielded From Jupiter's Raging Magnetic Storms, Ganymede Harbors Organics And Salts, In Its Surface Ice... All On A Moon Bigger Than Mercury.

Of course, this all hints at what might lie beneath -- under the ices, in a deep and perhaps even warm (in spots) ocean system. And there. . . organics might become long chain proteins. And from there. . . but, well. . . we are getting out over our skis, now.

Suffice it to say that -- as we hope, with Europa and Enceledes as well -- these subsurface oceans could ultimately be where we first see. . . evidence of non-terrestrial biological processes underway.

In any event, here's the latest, from NASA's JPL team:

. . .On June 7, 2021, Juno flew over Ganymede at a minimum altitude of 650 miles (1,046 kilometers). Shortly after the time of closest approach, the JIRAM instrument acquired infrared images and infrared spectra (essentially the chemical fingerprints of materials, based on how they reflect light) of the moon’s surface. Built by the Italian Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, JIRAM was designed to capture the infrared light (invisible to the naked eye) that emerges from deep inside Jupiter, probing the weather layer down to 30 to 45 miles (50 to 70 kilometers) below the gas giant’s cloud tops. But the instrument has also been used to offer insights into the terrain of moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto (known collectively as the Galilean moons for their discoverer, Galileo).

The JIRAM data of Ganymede obtained during the flyby achieved an unprecedented spatial resolution for infrared spectroscopy – better than 0.62 miles (1 kilometer) per pixel. With it, Juno scientists were able to detect and analyze the unique spectral features of non-water-ice materials, including hydrated sodium chloride, ammonium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, and possibly aliphatic aldehydes.

“The presence of ammoniated salts suggests that Ganymede may have accumulated materials cold enough to condense ammonia during its formation,” said Federico Tosi, a Juno co-investigator from Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome and lead author of the paper. “The carbonate salts could be remnants of carbon dioxide-rich ices. . . .”

Now you now, with the lawns coated here in lustrous white snow. . . rapidly being melted under the bright azure skies. Smile.

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