New laboratory experiments reveal that salty water can flow long enough on an airless world to form the characteristic waterways observed on the giant asteroid Vesta, providing insight into the behavior of liquids in space. Previous assumptions were called into question.
Published in Planetary Science Journal |Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
When NASA’s Dawn spacecraft captured images of deep channels carved into the cratered surface of asteroid Vesta, scientists discovered that the vacuum-exposed celestial body was long enough to create these features. faced the puzzle of how a liquid can flow. A new NASA-funded study has a surprisingly simple answer. It’s table salt.
Jennifer Scully, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the study’s project leader, said, “Collisions not only cause a flow of liquid on the surface, but the liquid also creates certain features on the surface. and remain active long enough to produce.” A key question driving their research was determining how long such flows could last before freezing in the harsh space environment.
Using a special vacuum chamber at JPL called DUSTIE (Dirty Under Vacuum Simulation Testbed for Ice Environments), researchers recreated the Vesta-like conditions that occur after a meteorite impact. Pure water freezes almost instantly under vacuum conditions, but salt water remains liquid for at least an hour, long enough to form the canyon observed on Vesta, which scientists believe It is estimated that it took about 30 minutes to form.
The research team, which includes lead author Michael J. Poston of the Southwest Research Institute, suggests that these salty liquids may form a protective “lid,” a frozen top layer that shields the liquid flowing below from the vacuum of space. I discovered that. This process reflects how Earth’s lava travels farther in the tube than if it were exposed to cooler surface temperatures.
These discoveries not only reveal Vesta’s geological history; These contribute to a broader understanding of how liquids behave throughout the solar system, from potential mud volcanoes on Mars to cryovolcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Europa. The Dawn mission, which explored Vesta for 14 months in 2011 and 2012, continues to yield insights into the complex processes that shape our cosmic neighborhood.
Glossary
- brine
- An aqueous solution containing a highly concentrated salt that can remain liquid even under conditions that would freeze pure water.
- dusty
- Dirty Vacuum Simulation Testbed for Ice Environments – A specialized chamber used to recreate space-like conditions for scientific experiments.
- formation of flow
- Grooves or furrows carved into the surface of a celestial body by flowing material, whether liquid or dry debris.
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
In DUSTIE’s experiment, how long did the salty liquid stay liquid?
The salt solution remained liquid for at least 1 h under vacuum conditions.
What is the estimated time required for the canyons observed at Vesta to form?
Scientists estimate that the canyon takes up to 30 minutes to form.
What is the protective mechanism that allows salty liquid to flow longer on an airless object?
The brine forms a “lid,” a frozen top layer that protects the liquid flowing underneath from the vacuum of space.
How does Vesta’s brine flow mechanism compare to geological processes on Earth?
This process is similar to how lava flows farther in a lava tube than if it were exposed to the colder surface temperatures on Earth.
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