Underground sea discovered on Jupiter's satellite
Scientists say the hunt for extraterrestrial life has received a new boost with evidence of the existence of a large underground ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa.
Simulated image of Europa's underground sea - Photo: Reuters
An underground sea of water, an essential ingredient for life, the size of the Great Lakes lies beneath several kilometers of ice, according to a study published on November 16.
Researchers at the University of Texas made the discovery while studying images taken by the Galileo spacecraft. They found two rough areas on a flat ice crust.
Researchers believe the indentations were caused by icebergs collapsing into the water. Similar features are found in the Earth's Antarctic region where ocean water penetrates and erodes icebergs.
Such lakes could provide habitat or serve as a conduit for organic matter from Europa's surface to its deeper ocean, according to Don Blankenship, a geophysicist and Europa expert at the University of Texas.
“There was a general consensus in the scientific community that if the ice crust is thick, it’s bad for biology—the surface doesn’t communicate with the ocean underneath,” said Britney Schmidt, lead author of the study. “Now we see evidence that even when the ice crust is thick, it can mix well. This would make Europa and its oceans potentially habitable.”
According to Sky News, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is considering sending a spacecraft equipped with a powerful radar system to Europa to observe the part below the surface of this satellite.
(According to Thanh Nien)
