![]() ![]() “Europa is one of our best chances of finding life in our solar system. Getty Is Europa our best chance of finding life in our solar system? It may also be the only place in the Solar System where life has evolved outside the Earth. If Europa does indeed harbor a liquid water ocean, it would be the only place in the Solar System besides Earth where liquid water exists in significant quantities. This subsurface ocean would be kept liquid by tidally generated heat. It may be that beneath Europa's surface ice there is a layer of liquid water, perhaps as much as 30 miles deep. Europa is believed to be composed of silicate rocks with a layer of water ice covering the entire surface. Europa is Jupiter's fourth largest satellite and is slightly smaller than the Earth's Moon. The large crater in the foreground is about a halfmile in diameter. The perspective is from an altitude of several thousand feet. packice on Earth's polar seas during spring thaws. “Regardless of whether the observed sodium chloride directly relates to the ocean composition, its presence warrants a re-evaluation of our understanding of the geochemistry of Europa,” reads the paper.Īn artist's concept inspired by recent discoveries on Europa of regions that look very much like. However, the presence of sodium chloride isn’t proven. Arguably, icy moons lack this ability, so this needs to be tested on any future mission to Europa.” “A key aspect that makes a world “habitable” is an intrinsic ability to maintain these chemical disequilibria. “What remains unclear is whether such icy moons could ever generate enough heat to melt rock certainly interesting chemistry takes place within these bodies, but what reliable flow of electrons could be used by alien life to power itself in the cold, dark depths?” “A long-standing question over whether a “cloaked ocean” world like Europa could be habitable boils down to whether it can sustain a flow of electrons which might provide the energy to power life,” said Professor Steve Mojzsis, Professor of Geology at the University of Colorado, and not connected with the research. Here's Why By Jamie Carter What questions remain? We believe that this ocean could be quite habitable for life.” MORE FROM FORBES People In Asia Just Saw Weird 'Shadow Snakes' On The Ground During An Eclipse. “In other words, its composition became more like oceans on Earth. “It was thought that this ocean could still be rather sulfuric,” said Mohit Melwani Daswani, lead researcher, “but our simulations, coupled with data from the Hubble Space Telescope, showing chloride on Europa’s surface, suggests that the water most likely became chloride-rich.” It suggests that the circulation of hot water, as found in Earth’s oceans, may lead to a sodium chloride-rich ocean. “The presence of sodium chloride on Europa has important implications for our understanding of the internal chemistry and its geochemical evolution through time,” reads the paper. This crust will often pile up in long ridges as floes crash into one another. Jupiter's large moon, Europa, is covered by a thick crust of ice above a vast ocean of liquid water. They found them several times, and only in “chaotic” regions of Europa. So they looked four times-in optical (visible) wavelengths of light-for sodium chloride’s tell-tale colors using the Hubble Space Telescope. It’s in a “chaos” region where there could be gaps the ocean water comes through, or the ice could have melted.Īll the researchers know is that it looks smooth in infra-red images from Galileo, which is what sodium chloride looks like when they simulate Europa’s surface conditions in a laboratory. This Is What 'Hope' Can Do By Jamie Carter MORE FROM FORBES In 30 Days A Country Of 9.6 Million People Will Send A Mission To Mars. another non-ice material-probably salt from its ocean.Data from Galileo suggests that it’s dominated by three chemical terrains: It’s always changing, and there are plenty of “chaos” regions. Having not sampled it, scientists don’t know much about it, so the best they can do is look at the moon’s icy surface.Įuropa’s icy surface is covered in ridges, fractures and cracks geologically-speaking, it’s young and active. Whether Europa’s vast ocean could support life depends on its composition. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute What is Europa’s ocean made of? crisscross the surface, interrupted by regions of disrupted terrain where the surface ice crust has been broken up and re-frozen into new patterns. The scene shows the stunning diversity of Europa's surface geology. ![]()
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