For a long time scientists have tried to understand how the upper atmosphere of Jupiter did the water, but in vain. Riddle of not so long ago could solve the Herschel Space Observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA). It turned out that all the fault of the collision with the planet comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which happened almost 20 years ago - in July 1994.
Jupiter - the largest planet in the solar system. Its mass is twice the mass of all the other planets of our solar system combined. Along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, it belongs to a class of gas giants. At the time of the great rivalries Jupiter is visible to the naked eye and is one of the brightest objects in the sky after the Moon and Venus. This planet was known by people in ancient times: for it is mentioned in the Mesopotamian, Babylonian, Greek, and other myths.
Although the pressure and the temperature in the interior of Jupiter reaches high values, the atmosphere even in the lower layers of the planet is warming is usually not above -100 degrees Celsius. No wonder some similar-sized planets discovered in other star systems, called hot Jupiters.
Since the beginning of the era of astronomical observations have repeatedly attempted to explore Jupiter using ground-based telescopes, and since the 1970s, NASA sent back eight interplanetary spacecraft. It was found that Jupiter#39;s enormous gravity compresses much of being a part of the hydrogen in the liquid metal that conducts electricity. It is clear that in such a situation it is difficult to expect the appearance of the planet of their own water supplies.
Researchers found that during the collision happened in 1994, the comet Shoemaker-Levy broke into 21 fragments which crashed into Jupiter#39;s southern hemisphere, left in its atmosphere of dark marks that were observed in a few weeks. This event is the first time allowed astronomers to directly observe how the encounter extraterrestrial objects in the solar system. Professionals and amateurs carried out observations using ground-based telescopes and the space telescope Hubble.
In 1995, ESA launched an infrared space observatory, which has recorded the presence of water in the upper layers of the Jovian atmosphere. While people assumed that the blame for this comet, direct evidence was not there.
The researchers had to exclude the possibility of penetration of water into the stratosphere of deep inner atmospheric layers because water vapor could not overcome a cold layer that separates the stratosphere from the troposphere clouds. Consequently, get into the stratosphere of Jupiter water could only from some external source.
It took more than 15 years before the data received from Herschel, allowed to map the distribution of water in the Jovian atmosphere. It was found that the amount of water in the southern hemisphere is two to three times greater than that in the north, and the maximum concentration of moisture is observed just around the places of the planet collision with comet Shoemaker-Levy, happened in 1994. In addition, all the water was concentrated at high altitudes.
However, there is still an alternative associated with the rain falling on Jupiter from small interplanetary dust particles. But then the distribution of water on the planet should be uniform, in addition, the water should be at a greater depth than it is now.
Even as an option you can consider the hypothesis that water could be on the planet as a result of evaporation from one of the satellites, covered with a crust of ice: this happens, for example, Enceladus - Saturn#39;s moon. However, the location of the large satellites of Jupiter is such that water from them could not be in those places where it was detected. According to astronomers, at least 95 percent of the water is now in the stratosphere of Jupiter, deliver here is a comet.
By the way, is quite large and the likelihood that to us on Earth, too, hit the water with comets. Not so long ago, the same observatory Herschel has carried out studies of comet Hartley 2, which a year ago moved closer to the Earth at a distance of about 18 million kilometers. It was found that the ratio of deuterium, a heavy isotope of hydrogen and ordinary hydrogen in the ice core of the comet is very close to the Earth#39;s oceans.
