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Teach Astronomy Evidence of Life on Europa
>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=gtt1l6iI6ro
http://www.teachastronomy.com/ • Scientists are very uncertain what the probability is of life on or in Europa. The Galileo probe first mapped out the fissure network of surface ice that covers a liquid water layer. We only have rough estimates or models of what the thickness of the ice and water layers are. But it's likely that the ice layer is ten kilometers thick, and the liquid layer could be as much as a hundred kilometers thick which would mean that Europa has as much liquid water on it as the sum of all the oceans of water on Earth. The surface of Europa is geologically young and is perhaps been kept active by geological activity within the small moon. The water is kept liquid, and the geological activity may be spurred by tidal heating by the large planet Jupiter which is nearby, the same mechanism that produces volcanoes on Io. The key requirement for life this distance from the Sun would be an energy source. Photosynthesis may be possible on the surface layers of the ice, but deep within the ice there's very little energy. The best prospect is if geological activity activates deep sea vents which can foster life forms the way they do in the oceans of the Earth.
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