Of all the planets in our solar system, Jupiter is the largest. It also has up to 79 large and small moons orbiting around it.
Of these moons, Europa is the fourth largest, but it is slightly smaller than Earth’s moon. This moon books have already attracted the attention of researchers with the aim of searching for the possibility of life outside Earth NRK.
It’s really exciting to imagine life has a chance here, says lead author of the study, Dustin Schroeder in a press release.
Compared to the Greenland Ice Sheet
at New study Schroeder and his team of researchers at Stanford University concluded that our solar system has the best chance of finding life on the moon in Europe.
This image from NASA shows the icy surface of Europe. Photo: NASA/Reuters/NTB
The study, published in Nature Communications, writes that the ocean on the moon in Europe could withstand life.
They came to the conclusion by comparing the moon with the ice sheet in Greenland.
Europe is covered in giant parallel rise formations similar to those seen on the ice surface in Greenland.
Researchers believe that these Greenland ‘ice ridges’ formed when shallow pools of water froze beneath the surface and cracked the surface repeatedly, eventually forming these ridges.
Researchers now think the same thing may have happened in Europe.
It can transport nutrients and circulate oxygen
If true, the researchers believe it indicates that shallow pockets of water should be, or may still be, common in the thick, icy crust of the Moon floating over an estimated ocean depth of 60-150 kilometers.
These pockets of water can help transport nutrients needed for life into the salty sea. The researchers believe this flow could also help with oxygen distribution.
Both nutrients and oxygen are needed to form life.
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