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The scientific consensus is that a layer of liquid water exists beneath Europa's surface, and that heat from tidal flexing allows the subsurface ocean to remain liquid. [ 19 ] [ 80 ] Europa's surface temperature averages about 110 K (−160 °C ; −260 °F ) at the equator and only 50 K (−220 °C; −370 °F) at the poles, keeping Europa's ...
Europa Clipper (previously known as Europa Multiple Flyby Mission) is a space probe developed by NASA to study Europa, a Galilean moon of Jupiter. It was launched on October 14, 2024. [ 15 ] The spacecraft will use gravity assists from Mars on March 1, 2025, [ 10 ] and Earth on December 3, 2026, [ 11 ] before arriving at Europa in April 2030 ...
Europa is a prime candidate for life in the Solar System, researchers suggest.
This led many to suggest that these cracks might be similar to ice floes on Earth, and that Europa might have a liquid water interior. [30] Europa may be internally active due to tidal heating at a level about one-tenth that of Io, and as a result, the moon is thought to have a thin crust less than 30 kilometers (19 mi) thick of water ice ...
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It is thought that they may be composed of ice II or other polymorph of water ice. [2] The prime example of this class of object is Europa. Icy moons warmed by tides may be the most common type of celestial body in the galaxy to have liquid water, [3] and thus the most likely type of object to possibly have water-based life.
Heller et al. (2021) estimated that shortly after the Moon was formed, when the Moon orbited 10-15 times closer to Earth than it does now, tidal heating might have contributed ~10 W/m 2 of heating over perhaps 100 million years, and that this could have accounted for a temperature increase of up to 5°C on the early Earth.
Life may exist in Europa's under-ice ocean. So far, there is no evidence that life exists on Europa, but the likely presence of liquid water has spurred calls to send a probe there. [36] Recurring plume erupting from Europa. [37] The prominent markings that criss-cross the moon seem to be mainly albedo features, which emphasize low topography.