The fourth-largest of Jupiter’s 92 natural satellites, Europa, has distorted frozen patterns on its surface that imply something akin to a massive ocean lies beneath its thick layer of ice.
Recent observations made by NASA’s Juno spacecraft during a flyby strongly suggest that there may be plume activity in areas where saltwater has recently broken through the ice layer.
Future missions may be able to sample the interior ocean without having to set foot on the world of freezing water thanks to this revelation.
Another set of intriguing clues suggesting plumes of water vapor are exploding from the enigmatic innards of Europa are provided by the data.
NASA claims that Europa is geologically active, similar to Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which means that both moons produce heat internally when their solid layers stretch and flex from the gravitational tug-of-war with their host planets and neighbouring moons.
“This, instead of heat from the Sun, keeps subsurface water from freezing on these ice-covered moons. The heat may also help produce or circulate life’s chemical building blocks at the seafloors, including carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur,” said a Nasa report.
