Life on Jupiter?

Abstract

The possibilities of life on Jupiter are discussed from the point view of life as we know it. That is, we assume that any life on Jupiter would not involve new principles foreign to us. Proteins would be a constituent as would fats and the other building blocks of living organisms on Earth. This leads us to a set of limiting parameters, such as pressure. Studies in the laboratory have shown that proteins and other essential molecules are denatured by pressures of 4000 atm and higher. Thus, we must not expect life in the great depths of the Jovian atmosphere. It could exist only at depths of several hundred kilometers in the atmosphere. Since no solid surface could possibly exist at such altitudes, any organisms present must be small enough to be buoyed up by the turbulent atmospheric currents or must fly or both. Such possibilities, however, seem to be real. The necessary nutrients to preserve life and foster growth could be furnished by the Miller-Urey type reactions of ionizing radiation on the reducing atmosphere undoubtedly present. There can, of course, be no possibility of oxygen on Jupiter, and so the life forms, if they exist, must be anaerobic. Such possibilities are real and have often been cited in connection with the origin of life on Earth.