Europa: Oceans of Life?
Explanation:
Is there life beneath Europa's frozen surface? Some believe the oceans
found there of carbon-enriched water are the
best
chance for life, outside the
Earth,
in our
Solar System.
Europa, the fourth largest moon of
Jupiter, was
recently
discovered to have a thin oxygen atmosphere
by scientists using the
Hubble Space Telescope. Although
Earth's
atmospheric abundance of
oxygen is
indicative of life, astronomers speculate that Europa's oxygen
arises purely from physical processes. But what an interesting
coincidence! The above picture was taken by a
Voyager spacecraft in 1979, but the
spacecraft Galileo
is currently circling
Jupiter and
has been
photographing
Europa.
The first of these pictures will be released two days from today.
Will
they show the unexpected?
Late News: NASA to Release New Europa and Jupiter Pictures Thursday
More Late News: New Evidence Suggests Microscopic Life Existed
on Mars
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
