Source

In my previous post I asked if there is life on Mars. In this post we will fly a little further out and explore one of the giants in our solar system, Jupiter.

Source
This gas giant is big, really big. It is two and a half times larger than all of the other planets in our system combined. Sitting as the fifth planet from the Sun Jupiter is composed of mainly hydrogen and helium. The conditions for life there are not favourable as there is very little water to sustain organisms as we know it. Further, Jupiter does not have a solid surface on which life could exist. Even if we considered the possibility of 'free floating' organisms, due to the immense atmospheric pressure they would have to exist at the top of Jupiter's clouds.

While the cloud tops could theoretically harbor life that is resistant to solar radiation, the atmosphere is in constant chaos. Jupiter is completely inhospitable to life as we understand it.

Source

Jupiter's greatest feature is known as the Great Red Spot or Eye, a storm that has been brewing since at least the 1800s if not earlier. The Eye is so large that the Earth could easily fit within it's boundaries.

While life on Jupiter is unfeasible, one of it's four moons - Europa - is of great interest.

Europa

Source

Discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei Europa is the sixth largest moon in our solar system, slightly smaller than our own. While at it's core it is believed to be comprised of silicate rock, a thick water ice crust covers it's surface, along which you see large cracks caused by Jupiter's immense tidal forces, from which large plumes of water have been observed jetting from the surface. The moon has a very thin atmosphere comprised mainly of oxygen. Europa has the smoothest surface of any known object in our system leading to the hypothesis that beneath it's 19 - 24 km thick icy crust lies a vast ocean of water. Through it's interaction with it's giant neighbour, this Jovian moon has a magnetic field and the incredible tidal forces of Jupiter induce heat into the moon as evidenced by the cracks that open up, allowing for warmer water to rise to the surface.

As mentioned in my first post, our understanding for life is that water is needed. Add to this a magnetic field, oxygen and some heat it is obvious why Europa has become the prime candidate for life elsewhere in our solar system. All of these elements are in abundance on Europa and NASA have been planning a mission to explore the moon more fully.

Source - artist's rendering

The Europa Clipper is planned to launch in the 2020s, scheduled to arrive at the Jupiter system within several years. The probe will have instruments on board to measure the magnetic field of Europa, take photographs of the surface, use radar to measure the depth of the ice and of the ocean beneath and a thermal instrument to sample the water plumes which sporadically escape the surface. It may be able to fly through these plumes to discover it's chemical makeup.

Source

A future mission to land on the moon is in the planning stage. This lander will be tasked with taking samples of the ice with a drill and robotic arm, analyzing it under a microscope for traces of microbial life and sending the data back to Earth via it's orbiting mothership.

Source

Source
Concept art from the movie The Abyss

---

Do you think there is life beneath Europa's icy surface? Let me know in the comments below

---

Thank you for reading

Catch my next post in this series by following me

---

---

Click the picture to read about my steemgigs service - English proof reading - if you need help with spelling or grammar

---