Could Europa's subsurface ocean support extraterrestrial life?

Europa features a water ocean beneath its geologically young, icy surface that could conceivably harbor extraterrestrial life. Heat generated from tidal flexing keeps this subsurface ocean liquid and may drive ice movement that absorbs surface chemicals into the water below. Additionally, detected water vapor plumes and sea salt coatings suggest active interaction between the ocean and the sea floor, making it a primary target in the study of planetary habitability.

What we know

• Europa has a water ocean beneath its surface which could conceivably harbor extraterrestrial life. [2, 3]
• Heat from tidal flexing is the predominant model keeping Europa's subsurface ocean liquid and driving ice movement. [2, 5]
• Sea salt coating some geological features suggests that Europa's subsurface ocean interacts with the sea floor. [2] · medium confidence
• Water vapor plumes detected by the Hubble Space Telescope and Galileo data analyses could aid in searching for life without landing. [2] · medium confidence

Still open

• The surface of Europa may have much less oxygen than previously inferred, though the exact implications for the subsurface ocean's habitability remain under investigation.

Where to go next

• how it workedHow does tidal heating keep icy moons warm?
• how we knowWhat did the Galileo space probe discover about Jupiter's moons?
• compared withEnceladus
• the bigger pictureHow do astrobiologists search for life on ocean worlds?
• what followedWhat are the mission goals of the Europa Clipper?
• an unexpected connectionHow do Saturn's rings and Jupiter's icy moons connect through cryogeysers?Both Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus share similar water vapor plume activity driven by cryogeysers that allow scientists to probe subsurface oceans directly from space.

Sources

• [1]Europa (Wikidata Q3143) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Europa (moon) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Ocean world · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Planetary habitability in the Solar System · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Habitability of natural satellites · CC BY-SA 4.0