Europa jupiter moon

The fascinating surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view, made from images taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. This is the color view of Europa from Galileo that shows the largest portion of the moon’s surface at the highest resolution. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute

Ars learns some exclusive details about a daring lander for Jupiter’s icy moon.

Thanks to a surface covered in liquid water, Jupiter's moon Europa serves as the prime suspect for bodies in our solar system harboring extraterrestrial life. For the most part though, speculation has assumed the life on Europa would be microscopic, similar to the chemical and rock-eating microbes found atop undersea volcanic vents on Earth. However, a new study estimates the level of oxygen in Europa's seas may be high enough to support fish-sized life. Hello, alien sushi.

Jupiter’s moon Europa. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. NASA laboratory experiments suggest the dark material coating some geological features of Jupiter’s moon Europa is likely sea salt from a subsurface ocean, discolored by exposure to radiation. The presence of sea salt on Europa’s surface suggests the ocean is interacting with its rocky seafloor – an important consideration in determining whether the icy moon could support life.

Version A of the Europa installment of our solar system poster series.

Image of Europa a moon of Jupiter.

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New research suggests active seafloor volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Europa. Are they linked to life? The planned Europa Clipper mission might provide answers.