Top Document: [sci.astro] ET Life (Astronomy Frequently Asked Questions) (6/9) Previous Document: F.02.2 Is there life in Jupiter (or Saturn)? Next Document: F.02.4 Is there life on Saturn's moon Titan? See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge This article is adapted from NASA Press Releases. In the late 1970's, NASA Voyager spacecraft imaged Europa. Its surface was marked by complicated linear features, appearing like cracks or huge fractures in the surface. No large craters (more than five kilometers in diameter) were easily identifiable. One explanation for this appearance is that the surface is a thin ice crust overlying water or softer ice and that the linear features are fractures in that crust. Galileo images have reinforced the idea that Europa's surface is an ice-crust, showing places on Europa that resemble ice floes in Earth's polar regions, along with suggestions of geyser-like eruptions. Europa's appearance could result from the stresses of the contorting tidal effects of Jupiter's strong gravity (possibly combined with some internal heat from decay of radioactive elements). If the warmth generated by tidal heating is (or has been) enough to liquefy some portion of Europa, then the moon may have environmental niches warm and wet enough to host life. These niches might be similar to those found near ocean-floor vents on the Earth. User Contributions:Top Document: [sci.astro] ET Life (Astronomy Frequently Asked Questions) (6/9) Previous Document: F.02.2 Is there life in Jupiter (or Saturn)? Next Document: F.02.4 Is there life on Saturn's moon Titan? Part0 - Part1 - Part2 - Part3 - Part4 - Part5 - Part6 - Part7 - Part8 - Single Page [ Usenet FAQs | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index ] Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer: jlazio@patriot.net
Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM
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