Europa tagged posts

Researchers have built the world’s first physics-based computer simulation of oxygen transport on Europa, finding that it’s possible for oxygen to drain through the moon’s icy shell and into its ocean of liquid water — where it could potentially help sustain alien life — by hitching a ride on salt water under the moon’s ‘chaos terrains.’ The results show that not only is the transport possible, but that the amount of oxygen brought into Europa’s ocean could be on a par with the quantity of oxygen in Earth’s oceans today.

This theory has been proposed by others, but the researchers put it to the test by building the world’s first physics-based computer s...

Discovery could point to a new class of ‘stealth’ ocean worlds. A Southwest Research Institute scientist set out to prove that the tiny, innermost moon of Saturn was a frozen inert satellite and instead discovered compelling evidence that Mimas has a liquid internal ocean...

On Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, powerful eruptions may spew into space, raising questions among hopeful astrobiologists on Earth: What would blast out from miles-high plumes? Could they contain signs of extraterrestrial life? And where in Europa would they originate? A new explanation now points to a source closer to the frozen surface than might be expected.

Rather than originating from deep within Europa’s oceans, some eruptions may originate from water pockets embedded in the icy shell itself, ...

Finding prompts a rethinking of the icy moon’s subsurface ocean. Researchers have discovered that the yellow color visible on portions of the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa is actually sodium chloride.

A familiar ingredient has been hiding in plain sight on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa...