Europa – The Best Place To Find Extraterrestrial Life In Our Solar System

Jupiter’s moon, Europa has been identified as the first port of call for finding alien life in our Solar system. According to new modelling by a team at NASA, the moon’s subsurface oceans should be able to support life.

Research has also concluded that radioactive decay and tidal forces would generate enough heat to allow liquid water on the icy moon where surface temperature never exceeds -140 degrees Celsius. Plumes of water vapour have also been detected to support this calculation.

The information was presented at the 020 Goldschmidt Conference and as NASA will be launching a mission to Europa in 2024 scientists have been working hard to establish the best method to search for life on the planet.

Based on previous research it is know that Europa’s oceans are reasonably salting, leading to hope they could be similar to those on Earth. Nasa scientist Melwani Daswani explains:

“Indeed it was thought that this ocean could still be rather sulphuric, but our simulations, coupled with data from the Hubble Space Telescope, showing chloride on Europa’s surface, suggest that the water most likely became chloride rich.” 

“In other words, its composition became more like oceans on Earth. We believe that this ocean could be quite habitable for life.”

The next step in the research is to discover if the moon has any other features capable of increasing the chances of life such as volcanic activity capable of producing hydrothermal vents.

“Europa is one of our best chances of finding life in our Solar System. NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will launch in the next few years, and so our work aims to prepare for the mission, which will investigate Europa’s habitability,” Melwani concluded.

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