Europa

Welcome to Europa

Europa is one of the 4 Galilean moons of Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto). Scientists are almost certain that a massive saltwater ocean is hidden beneath its icy surface and scientists also believe there to be the right chemical elements for life. Because of this, Europa is seen as one of the best candidates for life in the solar system.

How massive is this ocean?

Europa’s icy surface is about 15 to 25 kilometers thick, and the ocean beneath it is estimated to be 60 to 150 km in depth. It is thought that Europa has twice as much water as Earth’s global ocean.

Could there be life on Europa’s oceans?

How would life forms look like on Europa? Assuming the possibility of complex multicellular life forms, how would these beings evolve down there? It seems that there isn’t any light source so animals would probably not evolve any eyes, but would instead evolve with some sort of form to locate their prey, like platypuses here on Earth which have electroreceptors that perceive electrical impulses to catch their prey. Or like bats and dolphins which have echolocation, using sound to determine the location of other species around them. Another possibility could be bioluminescence, which is when animals produce their visible light, many marine species do this as well as some fungi, in this case maybe they would evolve eyes. All of this is just speculation though, what do you think? Is there life on Europa? What do you think it would be like?