The vast subterranean ocean of Europa, one of Jupiter’s many moons, contains carbon, one of the crucial ingredients for life, scientists have discovered.
The observations, by the James Webb space telescope, indicate that carbon dioxide ice on the moon’s surface originated from the salty ocean that lies beneath a 10-mile thick crust of ice. Although the findings do not answer the question of whether alien life is lurking in the cold, gloomy depths, they add weight to the view that Europa’s ocean could be the most promising place in the solar system to go looking for it.
“This is a big deal and I am very excited by it,” said Dr Christopher Glein, a geochemist at Southwest Research Institute, in Texas, US, and co-author. “We don’t know yet if life is actually present in Europa’s ocean. But this new finding adds evidence to the case that Europa’s ocean would be a good bet for hosting extant life. That environment looks tantalising from the perspective of astrobiology.”
At 2,000 miles wide, Europa is slightly smaller than Earth’s moon. Hypothetical lifeforms would have to contend with some extreme adversities, including surface temperatures than rarely exceed -140C and incoming radiation from Jupiter. But, Europa’s ocean – 40-100 miles (64-160km) deep, 10 to 15 miles beneath its icy surface – has made the moon a leading contender in the search for life. The deep ocean’s potential habitability depends on its chemistry, including the abundance of biologically essential elements such as carbon.
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