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Hubble finds first evidence of Water Vapor on Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede

Artist’s Impression of a Sublimated Water Atmosphere on Ganymede
Artist’s Impression of a Sublimated Water Atmosphere on Ganymede

For the first time, astronomers have uncovered evidence of water vapor in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. This water vapor forms when ice from the moon’s surface sublimates—that is, turns from solid to gas.

Scientists used new and archival datasets from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to make the discovery, published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Previous research has offered circumstantial evidence that Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, contains more water than all of Earth’s oceans. However, temperatures there are so cold that water on the surface is frozen solid...

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