NASA Finds More Evidence of Water Plumes on Jupiter's Moon Europa
Released on 09/26/2016
(airy music)
[Narrator] Take a close look at Jupiter's icy moon Europa,
and you may see something special.
No it isn't some intergalactic sprinkler system.
It's a sign that maybe, just maybe,
we aren't alone out there.
Okay, hold that thought.
Before you get too excited, let's be clear.
NASA hasn't found any gangly bug-eyed inhabitants
here on Europa, but what they discovered is still important.
Using the Hubble Space Telescope,
scientists spotted what may be water vapor plumes
bursting out from Europa's icy surface.
These plumes erupt out of the ocean
hiding beneath Europa's shell.
So if there are any microbial Europians
lurking beneath the surface,
they may be a whole lot easier to reach now.
That's because we could potentially fly by,
and capture the ejected material,
rather than sending a craft to drill down into the surface.
And the excitement over this activity on Europa makes sense.
In our solar system, having any kind of ocean
makes you a member of a pretty exclusive club.
Europa may not have liquid on it's surface,
but beneath the ice there is likely an oxygen rich ocean
which would be more habitable
than the methane lakes on Saturn's moon Titan, for example.
So when it comes to incubators for alien life,
this icy real estate may be our best bet.
Your First Look at Jupiter’s Gorgeous North Pole
Earth's Selfie Satellite
NASA Discovers Evidence for Liquid Water on Mars
How NASA Visualizes Stunning Worlds Without Ever Seeing Them
Absurd Creatures | Behold the Super Weird Face-to-Face Sex of the Springtail
How Realistic Are the Sci-Fi Planets in “Star Wars”?
How Juno Will Reveal the Secrets of Our Solar System
NASA Scientists Fact-Check “The Martian"
NASA Explains How the Juno Probe Got to Jupiter
Neil deGrasse Tyson on Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey