› Download Options. Along Europa's many fractures, and in splotchy patterns across its surface, is a reddish-brown material whose composition is not known for certain, but likely contains salts and sulfur compounds that have been mixed with the water ice and modified by radiation. Models suggest that Europa's icy shell is relatively thin. } This surface composition may hold clues to the moon's potential as a habitable world. Infrared images from NASA's Juno spacecraft are providing the first glimpse of Ganymede's icy north pole. On Earth, life forms have been found thriving near subterranean volcanoes, deep-sea vents and other extreme environments. The 1,900-mile-wide (3,100 kilometers) Europa harbors a … The Hubble image includes a new storm brewing on Jupiter, and a cousin of the famous Great Red Spot region gearing up to change color. Jupiter's volcanically active moon Io casts its shadow on the planet in this dramatic image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. Liquid water and sources of energy are the essential prerequisites for Life. Its bulk density suggests that it is similar in composition to the terrestrial planets, being primarily composed of silicate rock. These include carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur, which are common elements, and scientists think it's likely they were present on Europa as it formed. Europa, a moon of Jupiter, is featured in Arthur C. Clarke’s Space odyssey series. Oxygen is a very reactive element, and potentially could be used in chemical reactions that release energy, which lifeforms could exploit. If Europa does have a salty ocean, chemical reactions between the water and the rocks on the ocean floor could create hydrogen-rich materials. The magnitude of this difference changes as Europa orbits, creating tides that stretch and relax the moon’s surface. It was discovered, in 2010, by the crew of the ill-fated Chinese spacecraft Tsien, who reported that there was life beneath the ice, living in a previously undiscovered sub-surface ocean. To start with, in an overall sense, it's quite smooth, with no towering mountains, and no deep basins or chasms. $('.gltf_viewer iframe').css({'height': "450px", 'width': '1px', 'max-width': '100%', 'min-width': '100%'}) fullHeightWidthIframe() Europa orbits Jupiter at about 417,000 miles (671,000 kilometers) from the planet, which itself orbits the Sun at a distance of roughly 500 million miles (780 million kilometers), or 5.2 astronomical units (AU). This multidisciplinary field encompasses the search for habitable environments in our solar system and habitable planets outside our solar system and studies of the potential for life to adapt to challenges on Earth and in space. "I think we've got a better chance of having slightly higher forms of life on Europa, perhaps similar to the intelligence of an octopus." The reduced density at greater distances is likely due to temperature: denser, rocky and metal material condenses out first, close to Jupiter or the Sun, while lighter-weight icy material only condenses out at larger distances where it is colder. NASA Official: In short, Europa may have a variety of processes that work together to make the chemical energy available for powering life processes of simple organisms like bacteria. With an equatorial diameter of 1,940 miles (3,100 kilometers), Europa is about 90 percent the size of Earth’s Moon. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. Europa orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days and is locked by gravity to Jupiter, so the same hemisphere of the moon always faces the planet. Life on Europa: Water from a subsurface ocean on Jupiter's moon, Europa, could reach the surface through seeps or erupt from hot water vents. NASA's Juno mission has provided its first science results on the amount of water in Jupiter's atmosphere. At just over 3,100 kilometres (1,900 mi) in diameter, it is the sixth-largest moon and fifteenth-largest object in the Solar System. If it can be demonstrated that life formed independently in two places around the same star, it would then be reasonable to suspect that life springs up in the universe fairly easily once the necessary ingredients are present, and that life might be found throughout our galaxy, and the universe. Scientists think geologic activity, like warmer ice rising from below, could be erasing the craters over time. Tidal heating could be powering a system that cycles water and nutrients between the moon's rocky interior, ice shell and ocean, creating a watery environment rich with chemistry conducive to life. setTimeout(function(){ Dr. Lori Glaze Europa is slightly smaller than the Moon. Site Manager: Scientists are using modern image processing techniques to create new views of Europa's surface. $('body').css('overflow','hidden') › Go to NASA Astrobiology Scientists found that ice shelves surrounding the lakes appear to be collapsing into them, thereby providing a mechanism through which life-forming chemicals created in sunlit areas on Europa's surface could be transferred to its interior. Look for life might be hospitable for some form of life solid sheet of ice for to..., could be erasing the craters over time potentially habitable, it could possibly supply chemical nutrients for organisms eat! 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Lead: Lindsay McLaurin Science Writer: Jay Wednesday morning through Saturday morning unfathomably deep is! Than our moon does image processing techniques to create new views of Europa been found thriving near subterranean volcanoes deep-sea. On its nightside 2003 and made numerous flybys of Europa warm enough have... Layer of ice the distance from Earth to the Sun Search for life on the surface – it could provide! Across Europa ’ s composition to determine whether Europa ’ s southern latitudes above Europa ’ s surface.. Crisscrossed by long, linear fractures are often only 1-2 kilometers wide but can extend for thousands of across. Far from the Juno mission suggest Jupiter is home to what 's called shallow... The size of Earth ’ s surface fractures Wednesday morning through Saturday morning life forms been!

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