• Evidence of water vapor in the atmosphere of Jupiter's moon Ganymede, has been recorded for the first time. 
  • Astronomers found the water vapor using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
  • Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system.

Astronomers have discovered evidence of water vapor in the atmosphere of Jupiter's moon Ganymede for the first time.

Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, is covered in an icy crust. Scientists believe Ganymede may have a liquid ocean 100 miles beneath its surface, and that such an ocean could host aquatic alien life.

On Monday NASA announced that, by looking through the last two decades of data from the Hubble Space Telescope, researchers had discovered evidence of water vapor in the Jupiter moon's thin atmosphere. This water probably doesn't come from the underground ocean, though. Instead, it's likely ice vaporizing from the moon's surface.

Even though it doesn't say much about the moon's potential for alien life, this water vapor adds to scientists' understanding of Ganymede's atmosphere. Previously, they only knew that it contained oxygen.

"So far only the molecular oxygen had been observed," Lorenz Roth of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, who led the team who found the vapor, told NASA. "This is produced when charged particles erode the ice surface."

The research and datasets were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

A picture of a switch and lightbulb
Sign up for notifications from Insider! Stay up to date with what you want to know.
Subscribe to push notifications