An Ocean On Europa?

By Vicki Oransky Wittenstein

	Europa, an ice-covered moon of Jupiter, has many cracks and few craters. Is the ice floating on an ocean that erases craters?

From above, it seems as if you are flying over the Arctic Ocean. Huge chunks of ice several miles long crisscross the surface below. Some pieces appear to be floating like icebergs, and some look like glaciers.

But this place is not the North Pole or Antarctica. In fact, it’s not anywhere on Earth. This is Europa, Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon.

Startling pictures of Europa, including the two on these pages, came from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft. Partly because of these images, scientists think an ocean more than sixty miles deep may be hiding beneath Europa’s icy crust.

On Earth, wherever there is liquid water there is also life. Scientists have found life even under frozen lakes and in the super-heated waters around hot springs under the sea.

“The possibility of life is what is exciting about Europa,” says Dr. Christopher Chyba, a scientist at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in California.

Spacecraft Galileo
Galileo began orbiting Jupiter in 1995 and is still out there sending back pictures and information. In addition to Europa, Galileo is studying Callisto, another moon suspected of having liquid water.

“We are absolutely certain there is some form of water on Europa,” says Dr. Torrence V. Johnson, Galileo’s project scientist. “The question is whether there is liquid water.”

At Europa’s chilly surface temperature of -260 degrees Fahrenheit, water would certainly freeze. But there is evidence for liquid water somewhere under the crust. Like Earth’s Moon, most of Jupiter’s moons are pockmarked with craters caused by impacts from comets and meteorites. But Europa has very few craters.

This close-up view of Europa's surface shows that the ice seems to have shifted and cracked apart. Darker areas may be cracks that were filled from below with dirty water, which is now dirty ice. The section that has been pulled out to the right shows a double ridge. The valley between them is three Statues of Liberty deep. (The colors mean different heights, and red means one thousand feet or higher.)

Scientists think that something flowing, perhaps liquid water, has smoothed them over. Like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, large chunks of ice litter the surface of Europa, looking as if they could fit back together. In some areas, either slush or liquid water has burst through the surface and frozen, breaking apart the ice and forming dark ridges. These clues are exciting, but they don’t prove that Europa has an ocean.

To have an ocean, something would have to create enough heat to melt the ice on Europa, which lies so far from the Sun.

Heating Europa
All planets and moons are heated at least a little by the radioactive elements in their interiors. Europa is also heated by the effect of Jupiter’s gravity.

Says Dr. Johnson, “If you take a rubber ball and squeeze it, it will get hot because of the friction you’re creating inside the ball. That’s what’s happening to Europa as it goes around Jupiter.”

This process is called tidal warming. On Earth, when we think of tides, we usually think of the ocean. The Moon’s gravity pulls on Earth’s oceans, causing the water to rise and fall.

But the Moon’s pull also makes the Earth’s rocky crust move up and down a little. This movement is called an “earth tide.” The Earth’s pull also causes an earth tide in the Moon’s crust. Because of Jupiter’s more powerful gravity, a similar but much bigger earth tide occurs on Europa.

Here’s how these tides may heat Europa. The moon travels around the planet in an oval orbit that takes Europa close to Jupiter and its powerful gravity, then farther away, then back again.

As Europa approaches Jupiter, the planet’s gravity stretches the moon until Europa looks a bit like a football. This football shape pulls back into a round shape again as Europa moves away from Jupiter. Every three and one-half Earth days, Europa completes an orbit around the planet—and stretches back and forth between these two shapes. This tug of war may cause enough friction inside Europa to melt some of the ice, creating an ocean.

Early this year, Galileo discovered new evidence for an
ocean on Europa. Jupiter is a big magnet, and Galileo found that Europa is greatly affected by Jupiter’s magnetic field.

Dr. Margaret G. Kivelson, a Galileo scientist, explains: “At Europa, Jupiter’s magnetic field swings back and forth like the pendulum on a grandfather’s clock. This changing direction drives electrical currents through Europa.” For electrical currents to flow through the moon, it has to be covered by something that conducts electricity, such as a deep, salty ocean.

But Dr. Johnson says we still can’t be sure there is liquid water on Europa. “Like many things in science, we’ve got an ongoing argument about this,” he says.

What Kind of Life?
What would life look like? Says Dr. Chyba, “It’s almost certainly the case that we’re talking about microscopic life.”

On Earth, all big forms of life, such as plants and animals, need “free” oxygen, which is not bound up in water molecules. So scientists think that complex life can’t exist without free oxygen.

	NASA scientists created this picture of what Europa might look like from the inside out. If an ocean lies under the ice, it might be the watery home of tiny creatures similar to bacteria.

They also think there is no free oxygen on Europa. Sunlight is the key to making free oxygen on Earth. But the thick ice cover on Europa stops sunlight from passing through to the bottom.

Based on what we know about life on Earth, only microscopic life can survive without free oxygen. But Dr. Chyba says, “We only have the example of life on Earth.” In fact, Europan life may be totally different.

NASA plans to launch the Europa Orbiter in the next few years. If this spacecraft finds evidence of liquid water, the hunt for life will begin. Someday, remote-controlled submarines might even explore Europa’s ocean world.

Dr. Chyba says, “If there is an ocean on Europa and if there ever was life there, then there’s every reason to think that life is still there today. That’s what makes Europa so fascinating.”