Icy objects in our solar system have large oceans under their surfaces and here life could evolve and flourish. So says a new thesis by Jesper Lindkvist, PhD student at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and Umeå University. The thesis will be defended on Tuesday 31 May at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna, Sweden.
There has long been speculation as to whether Jupiter's large, icy moon Callisto has an ocean beneath its surface. Observations of Callisto's near-space environment by instruments on board the spacecraft Galileo, which is orbiting Jupiter, lead us to believe that there is such a sub-surface ocean. Computer simulations of the space plasma interactions support this belief.
"If you find an ocean beneath the surface of one moon, perhaps the same is true of other icy objects in space," says Jesper Lindkvist.
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