Of all of the other places in
our solar system, one of the most promising locations for extraterrestrial life
has been Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. Completely covered with ice on the surface,
researchers believe Europa harbors an ocean of liquid water at least 100 miles
deep, which leads down to a rocky interior and a solid core of some type, most
likely metal. Surface studies on the moon have yet to be conducted, however, so
the researchers have no idea how thick the icy crust on the outside of the
planet may be.
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| Credit: NASA. |
While the possibility of an
ocean of liquid water is more than enough to be excited about, some researchers
are beginning to doubt whether or not life as we know it would be able to
thrive on the chilling planet. What research has been done on the planet is
beginning to lead the scientists to believe that whatever water is there would
be highly contaminated by extremely acidic chemicals. There is some speculation
that it is possible the acidity could be balanced out by more basal minerals at the ocean floor, but again, it is all speculation.
There are a few places on
Earth where some microbes and other life forms thrive in highly acidic
environments, but those areas are few and far between. So, the likelihood of
life surviving on an entire planet like that? Very slim.
Without the bases and
minerals at the ocean floor to balance out the pH, though, the researchers say
the ocean would have moderately corrosive characteristics, “about the same as
your average soft drink,” except it would be more along the lines of hydrogen
peroxide than a cola. Swim time, anyone?
Information credit: SPACE.com.
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