Oxygen. Now it is indispensable, but the first life forms on Earth did just fine without it. Although oxygen is ubiquitous in the universe—and is the third most abundant element—it is difficult to obtain an atmosphere rich in molecular oxygen. It interacts with almost every other element in the periodic table. On young Earth, sunlight occasionally separates some oxygen atoms from other molecules, but this bulk oxygen reacts immediately with iron in rocks and hydrogen in volcanoes. The simple, single-celled life on Earth at that time probably got energy from fermentation.
But the world changed 2.4 billion years ago, when blue-green algae began converting enough carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and sugars. The oxygen content of the atmosphere eventually rose to 21 percent. How exactly this happened remains a mystery. What is clear is that this made more complex life forms possible.
More than five centuries ago He knew Leonardo da Vinci believed that there was “something” in the air that was essential to life. And that you can remove this “thing” from the air by burning, and then the animals suffocate. The discovery of oxygen is attributed to two scientists. Independently of each other, the Swedish chemist and chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele in 1771 and the English preacher and chemist Joseph Priestley in about 1774 synthesized oxygen by heating mercury oxide (HgO).
On Earth, colourless, odorless and tasteless oxygen is closely linked to life. He came into the atmosphere through life. A rich biodiversity is created by oxygen. However, oxygen is not necessarily a sign of life, as astronomers know.
On Europa – one of Jupiter’s 95 moons – high-energy molecules, not plants, produce oxygen. Early in 1995, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope detected signals of the element in the icy moon’s thin atmosphere. When high-energy particles flowing through Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field collide with water ice on Europa’s surface, the water molecules split into oxygen atoms.
Fictional astrobiologists
But although the oxygen in the atmosphere is not produced by life, the presence of oxygen makes astrobiologists imagine the existence of extraterrestrial life. In Europe, a small portion of the oxygen produced likely escapes into a salty underground ocean. There could be a source of life in the pitch-black waters. Researchers reported in March Published study in Nature astronomy Europe produces eighteen kilograms of oxygen per second. This is lower than previously estimated using simple computer models. It is unclear whether that is enough for life.
To make other worlds habitable, you can also try making oxygen yourself. NASA made molecular oxygen in Mars’ thin atmosphere using electrolysis. They did this using a microwave-sized instrument — the Moxie — that was installed with the Mars rover Perseverance.
But this is still not enough. Since 2021, Moxy has produced 122 grams of oxygen, the amount a small dog can breathe for 10 hours. Currently, Earth is the only known planet in the solar system that has enough oxygen in its atmosphere for humans to breathe.
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