Jupiter’s moon has long been considered a potential habitat for extraterrestrial life in our solar system.
Scientists have understood how the underwater ocean on Jupiter Europa’s moon could have formed and have determined that this vast body of water could have supported microbial life in the past. Europa, with an ocean hidden under a thick shell of ice, has long been considered a potential habitat for extraterrestrial life in our solar system, alongside other candidates such as Mars and the moon Enceladus of Saturn.
A new study presented Wednesday at a geoscience conference highlights its potential. The ocean of Europe may have formed after the water-rich minerals ejected their water through heating caused by the decomposition of radioactive elements inside his country at the start of its history, the researchers.
The effect of the tides caused by Europa’s gravitational interactions with Jupiter – the largest planet in the solar system – and two other large Jovian moons, Io and Ganymede, may also have played a role. “We believe that the European ocean may have been habitable early in its formation, as our models show that the composition of the ocean may have been only slightly acidic, containing carbon dioxide and sulfate salts, “said Mohit Melwani Daswani, planetary scientist, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. study leader. “The availability of liquid water is the first step towards habitability
In addition, chemical exchanges between the ocean and the rocky interior may have been significant in the past, so that potential life could have used chemical energy to survive. “Daswani said that microbes related to certain Earth bacteria that use carbon dioxide for energy could have survived thanks to ingredients available in Europe’s first ocean. Europa is slightly smaller than the moon earthly
The Europa ocean, perhaps 40 to 100 miles (65 to 160 km) deep, can hold twice the water of Earth’s oceans. The study assessed whether Europa was previously habitable and did not examine its current livability, a question the researchers are now exploring. “A word of warning,” said Melwani Daswani.
“If a place is habitable, it does not mean that it is actually inhabited, but simply that the conditions could allow the survival of some extremely robust life forms that we know on Earth.”
