Europa, The Possibility of Life Essay

This “Ice Giant” sure stands for its name as the 7th farthest planet from the Sun and its cold atmosphere brought about by the gases found here, hydrogen, helium and a little bit of methane. Uranus falls under the gas giant category along with neighbors Neptune and Saturn. This planet is composed of rock materials and various ices and is very similar to the cores of Saturn and Jupiter. Since the thick, blue-colored atmosphere covers the planet itself, scientists suggest that under the atmosphere is a hot, slushy ocean of water, ammonia, and methane thousands of mile deep right to a small, rocky core. Its blue color comes from the absorption of red light from the Sun by methane in the upper atmosphere but reflects blue light from the Sun back into space.

In conclusion Europa is a moon that orbits Jupiter, which has potential to hold life in an ocean that could exist under a surface of ice. NASA is looking into sending spacecrafts to study Europa further and to learn about the possibility of life in the solar

Europa, is the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, and the sixth-closest to the planet. With its icy crust and temperatures never rising more than minus 220 C (370 F). life on this moon seems impossible, but this icy rock may surprise you. Astronomers believe that there is an ocean underneath the ice that might be similar to Earth’s.

Saturn's moon Titan continues to baffle NASA scientists. Recently, a team found the formation of an ice cloud appearing out of thin air on Titan. This is similar to what we see over Earth's poles. However, there's minimal explanation to this event. While the agency scrambles around for answers, others look for signs of alien life on Titan.

With an ice-rink of a surface-just after a ballerina made her rounds-Europa’s surface has a mosaic of crisscross patterns and deep fractures painted across its crater-free face. As the fourth largest moon of Jupiter, Europa is pushed and pulled by the gravity of Jupiter itself, and its other moons. With a surface temperature of approximately -328º F, this moon is seemingly uninhabitable, but in fact, under its mysterious frozen shell could lay an incredible landscape of aquatic life (Astrobio). Hubble’s discovery of enormous water vapor plumes on the South Pole coupled with an analysis of its density and features, it is extremely likely that Europa boasts nearly twice the amount of water of Earth hiding underneath its thick

At first I explain about Europa. Europa is second satellite of Jupiter. Diameter is about 3000km. Europa is covered in thick 3km or more of ice, and it is believed that the sea of the liquid is present over a hundred kilometers beneath it. Because Europa is constantly deformed by tidal action with Jupiter and other satellites because they produce heat. Water of Europa is said to be three times that of Earth. Of course, it does not reach the light of the sun. However, in the same way as the Earth's deep sea, there is a hydrothermal vents (black smoker), in which living creatures may live. Creatures

NASA has recently used the Hubble Space Telescope to investigate a new discovery. This discovery was made on one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa. Europa is believed to have water vapor plumes erupting off its surface. Europa is thought to be one of the few places that can inhabit Earth Like things. This event is exciting for scientists because it will make exploration of Europa’s ocean easier, because the water jets are on the surface. Europa is a hot topic for scientists, so when the discovery of possible exploration was found, scientists are extremely excited. According to NASA, the jets are able to get to about 125 miles high, thats a lot of water. Europa’s ocean holds more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined. This is what makes Europa

Imagine hiking up to catch a glimpse of Old Faithful, the famous geyser located in Yellowstone National Park. 8000 gallons of hot water are shot up into the sky and reach a maximum altitude at 200 feet. This magnificent sight pales in comparison to plumes located on Enceladus, Saturn’s 6th largest moon. The Cassini spacecraft first spotted Enceladus in 2005 and reported enormous geysers erupting continuously and spouting water thousands of miles into outer space on Enceladus’ fissures near its south pole. This sight is not only uniquely spectacular, but also intriguing, as scientists are still unsure of the exact cause of Enceladus’ Plumes despite nearly a decade of research.

This shows us that there is water on the moon. They also noted that the ice has volatile substances like sulfur, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and ammonia, which could be easily contained and separated in a compressed oven chamber. A year later, NASA made a mini SAR radar that aboard the Chandrayaan-1 launched by the Indian Space Research Organization, which the radar found the estimated amount of ice on the moon. NASA estimated this amount to see if it is viable to upkeep the water demands on the Moon. There are least 600 million tons of ice at the north pole, in a cap a couple of meters deep. This is enough to keep our plants inside the station healthy and to create oxygen and hydrogen for fueling rocket propellent. We can also use the oxygen to

Enceladus is proved to hold a vast ocean beneath its cracked, icy surface. Geysers shoot from the depths of this blue moon. Enceladus also exhibits "tiger stripes" on the surface. These stripes have been identified as spewing ice, and further prove the existence of water on this moon. One of NASA's long­-term missions has been to find a celestial body containing water. "... scientists are eagerly searching for liquid water in places other than Earth. If found, these places would be the most compelling locations to seek an answer to the question of whether life exists beyond our home planet..." says the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Through 2015, they have done a few different flybys of Enceladus. One of the flybys will feature a plume dive that will sniff for hydrogen gas; a good source of nutrition for bacteria. Finding hydrogen could be a beacon towards finding hot spring activity, then towards finding the habitability of

It has the least amount of relative water of any known object in the Solar System.

Europa is one of these bodies which finds itself frozen, specifically, its surface is made of frozen water. However, Europa is fairly unique in that the surface water is frozen, but there is strongly believed to be sub-surface liquid water inside Europa. Finding liquid water in our solar system is a goal for many scientists across the world as it is believed water is a very strong indicator for possible life. Europa has a liquid water volume approximately double that of Earth. Based on deposits found on the surface of Europa, it seems that the water under the surface contains minerals, which means the water could be interacting with the surface floor, another good indicator for life possibly being viable there. Discovering life on another planet/moon would have huge implications in the science community and further advance our understanding of life in the universe. Europa could also aid humanities goal of solar exploration and colonization if it turns out that Europa is habitable to life. Some researchers are looking to utilize the massive quantities of liquid water under the Europan surface as a source of water for missions further in our solar

In the study of space and space travel, one goal is ever-present in the minds of humanity. In a way, this one question is the underlying motive in all extra-terrestrial exploration: could there be life beyond the Earth? The question is asked again and again, with various theories from various people, but even with evidence of flowing water on Mars, evidence of life has yet to be found. However, as a possible answer to this timeless question, one celestial body stands out among the rest: the smallest of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons, Europa. Europa, discovered in 1610 by Simon Marius and Galileo Galilei, has been the topic of many a science fiction story (such as 3001: The Final Odyssey) because of this possibility, and it’s because of this possibility that my story, and likely our future space exploration as a

Cassini found water continually spewing out of jets around the south polar region of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Scientists found that Enceladus subsurface ocean has all the ingredients for life. During the first two close flybys of the moon Enceladus in 2005, Cassini discovered a deflection in the local magnetic field that is characteristic for the existence of a thin but significant atmosphere. Titan is the only other place in the solar system known to have an Earth-like cycle of liquids flowing across its surface as the planet cycles through its seasons. Each Titan season lasts about 7.5 Earth years. Rippling sand dunes, like the Arabian desert can be seen in the dark equatorial regions of

According to the case study in order for Europa to sustain habitual life it must contain at least three different ingredients, in addition to a physicochemical environment, liquid water at the correct amount of