Nowadays, many American astronomers and planetary scientists searching for life in the solar system believe that it is possible to find life sooner on Europa, the satellite of Jupiter, with its huge ocean, than on desert Mars.
JUPITER'S ICE SATELLITE
Sometimes in the illustrations for articles about the alleged life under the icy shell of the ocean of Europa, the moon of Jupiter, you can see our earthly dolphins. Of course, it would be nice to meet such sea animals hundreds of millions of kilometers from the Earth, but can such developed creatures live under the ice of a satellite of a giant planet so far from us?
Perhaps most scientists will now answer this question in the negative, and they will have quite good reasons for this. What forms of life do scientists expect to find in Europe?
Europa is one of the four large satellites of Jupiter (there are 16 in total). The satellite's orbit is slightly elongated, so Europa is either approaching Jupiter or moving away from it. Due to the influence of the gravity of the huge planet, Europe experiences stretching and compression.
Because of this, its bowels are heated, which allows, despite the cold at the surface, to maintain a significant amount of water in a liquid state. According to the calculations of scientists, in the center of Europe there is a solid metal core, which is covered with a layer of rocks.
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Next comes the liquid ocean, up to 100 km deep, then the surface ice crust, 10 to 30 km thick. The average temperature near the satellite's surface is minus 160 degrees Celsius, so it is not surprising that the thickness of the near-surface ice reaches such a significant value.
Due to the huge ocean covered with ice, Europa's surface is considered to be the smoothest in the solar system. However, even on this surface there are ridges of ice, convex and concave formations - lenticules (lat - lenticulae - freckles), various stripes and chaotic areas.
These features of the relief directly indicate that there is liquid water under the ice. For example, the formation of ice ridges is explained by the freezing of ice in the places of faults, through which the liquid ocean "breaks through" to the surface.
In the photograph of Europa's surface, numerous dark lines are striking. Some of them completely encircle the satellite, their width can reach 20 kilometers. According to scientists, these colored stripes indicate the difference in the chemical composition of ocean water and ice on its surface.
There is also an assumption that the color of the stripes may be caused by the vital activity of microorganisms living under the ice cover of the satellite.
HERE IS JUST A PARADISE FOR MICROBES
So, we are talking about the possibility of life in Europe. What are the prerequisites for this? The sun's ultraviolet radiation and radiation affect the surface ice, breaking it into hydrogen and oxygen. If the lighter hydrogen is quickly carried out into space, then the oxygen remains at the satellite's surface.
Of course, there is not very much of it and the atmosphere of Europe is rarefied in comparison with the earth's about a trillion times. However, oxygen through surface cracks due to the mixing of layers of ice may well enter the ocean waters. It is believed that the concentration of oxygen in the oceans of Europe may well be comparable to its concentration in the depths of the oceans of our planet.
It turns out that Europa has liquid water enriched with oxygen, there is heat coming from the bowels of the satellite. It is believed that there may even be active volcanoes on the ocean floor.
In discussing possible life in Europe, planetary scientist Joseph Berne of Cornell University said the following:
“For a long time it was believed that for life to exist, at least three conditions are needed - sunlight, atmosphere and water. Now, having found life on the seabed, where there is no atmosphere and sunlight, but full of water, the first two conditions we can easily discard. Since huge mollusks and tubular worms on our planet may well exist in such conditions, feeding on microbes that swarm in the warm water around the underwater volcanoes, why not assume that something similar can exist on Europa?"
Maybe there are no creatures like dolphins or other large creatures in Europa's ocean, but microorganisms on Jupiter's moon most likely exist.
Planetary scientist Thomas Gold is sure of this, he says:
“Microbes are the ones who rule the world. And not only on Earth. Microbes are generally distributed throughout the Universe, and God himself ordered them to live in Europe. An ocean like this one in the entire solar system is probably no longer to be found."
REMAINS ONLY TO FANTASY
After the discovery of an ocean on Europa, so promising for the detection of life, a variety of projects arose for the further study of this celestial body.
Some suggested that the lander drilled through its ice shell and took water samples, examining them for the presence of microorganisms. Others even talked about sending a minisubmarine to Europe, which would melt the ice and swim in the depths of its mysterious ocean.
Maybe these creatures live under the ice of Europe
NASA has even begun developing a new project to explore Europe called Clipper, which has an estimated budget of $ 2 billion. It was assumed that it could be launched by 2021, but in order to save budget funds, the project was frozen.
True, the European Space Agency (ESA) is planning a mission to study Jupiter, it may well be reoriented to the study of Europe, but everything is designed for 2025-2030. This project may also be frozen, the Europeans now have a lot of problems.
It seems that in the coming decades, those who like to fantasize can “populate” distant icy Europe not only with microbes, but also with dolphins, and even intelligent underwater humanoids.