Jupiter Afloat in Five Times as Much Water as Estimated, New Study Says

Jupiter contains about five times as much water as scientists thought, probably delivered by comets in the early history of the solar system, a study suggests.

When chunks of a comet crashed into Jupiter’s atmosphere last summer, the Hubble Space Telescope spotted waves spreading from five crash sites at about 280 m.p.h.

In the new study, researchers conclude that the speed and strength of the waves suggested that a large amount of water exists beneath Jupiter’s visible clouds of ammonia. Most of the water is vapor, although a large water cloud layer just below the ammonia clouds is composed of droplets and ice crystals, said researcher Andrew Ingersoll.

The water probably came from “tremendous numbers of comets crashing into the solar system” early in its formation, said Ingersoll, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

The abundance of water helps explain the size of massive storms like the Great Red Spot, he said.