Un-Earthly Cold: Scientists Create Exotic “Outer Space” Ice
Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory successfully created amorphous ice, similar to ice in interstellar space and on icy worlds…
Europa
Scientists Create Exotic “Outer Space” Ice – Unlike Any on Earth
The search for life beyond Earth typically focuses on first looking for water, the basis for life as we know it. Whether the water is…
Jupiter’s Moon Europa May Have an Interior Hot Enough to Fuel Seafloor Volcanoes
Jupiter’s moon Europa has an icy crust covering a vast, global ocean. The rocky layer underneath may be hot enough to melt, leading to undersea…
Europa Clipper – NASA’s Mission to Search for Life on Jupiter’s Moon Europa – Just Hit a Significant Milestone
Jupiter’s moon Europa may have the potential to harbor life. The spacecraft will use multiple flybys of the moon to investigate the habitability of this…
Potential Plumes on Jupiter’s Icy Moon Europa Could Come From Water in the Crust
Scientists have theorized on the origin of the water plumes possibly erupting from Jupiter’s moon Europa. Recent research adds a new potential source to the…
Harbinger of Extraterrestrial Life? Explaining Cryovolcanic Eruptions on Jupiter’s Moon Europa
A new model shows how brine on Jupiter’s moon Europa can migrate within the icy shell to form pockets of salty water that erupt to…
Jupiter’s Icy Moon Europa Glows in the Dark
New lab experiments re-create the environment of Europa and find that the icy moon shines, even on its nightside. The effect is more than just…
Jupiter’s Moons Could be Warming Each Other through Tidal Resonance
The gravitational push and pull by Jupiter’s moons could account for more warming than the gas giant Jupiter alone. Jupiter’s moons are hot. Well, hotter…
NASA Scientists Believe Jupiter’s Moon Europa Could Sustain Life
A new model from NASA scientists supports the theory that the interior ocean in Jupiter’s moon Europa would be able to sustain life. In addition,…
New Evidence of Watery Plumes From Mysterious Subsurface Ocean on Jupiter’s Moon Europa
Jupiter’s moon Europa is a fascinating world. On its surface, the moon appears to be scratched and scored with reddish-brown scars, which rake across the…
‘Chaos Terrain’ of Jupiter’s Moon Europa Shown in Crisp Detail in NASA Galileo Images
Work is ongoing to refine images NASA’s Galileo spacecraft captured of Europa as scientists prepare for exploration of Jupiter’s icy moon. The surface of Jupiter’s…
Water Vapor Confirmed on Jupiter’s Moon Europa by NASA Scientists [Video]
Forty years ago, a Voyager spacecraft snapped the first closeup images of Europa, one of Jupiter’s 79 moons. These revealed brownish cracks slicing the moon’s…
Million-Fold Increase in the Power of ‘Chorus Waves’ Near Jupiter’s Moons
The planet Jupiter has a very strong magnetic field which forms the largest object in the solar physics. Observations of Jupiter’s magnetosphere in the 1990s…
New Radiation Maps Reveal Where Astronomers Should Look for Biosignatures on Europa
New comprehensive mapping of the radiation pummeling Jupiter’s icy moon Europa reveals where scientists should look — and how deep they’ll have to go —…
How the Icy Surface of Europa Could Transport Subsurface Ocean Water
This animation demonstrates how deformation in the icy surface of Europa could transport subsurface ocean water to the moon’s surface. This is just one of…
Does Europa Have the Ingredients to Support Life?
Scientists re-examining data from an old mission bring new insights to the tantalizing question of whether Jupiter’s moon Europa has the ingredients to support life….
Scientists Consider Europa a Likely Place to Look for Life
Galileo Galilei discovered Jupiter’s moon Europa in 1610. More than four centuries later, astronomers are still making discoveries about its icy surface. With a diameter…
NASA Will Host Live Discussion about Europa Findings, Potential for Life
NASA will host a Science Chat at 1 p.m. EDT Monday, May 14, to discuss the latest analysis of Jupiter’s moon Europa and its status as…