Europa Archives

Magnetic field components in the xy-plane in the ocean-reservoir environment after mutual induction coupling for a reservoir with radius rres = 20 km and finite conductivity σres = 30 S/m, where the induction response of the system follows equation 19. The arrows representing the magnetic field are normalized in length and do not represent the strength of the magnetic field, which is instead color coded in the background. The arrows in the center indicate the orientations of the background field (black), ocean induced field (green), and reservoir induced field (cyan), where the length indicates the strength relative to the background field. The dashed black line visualizes the surface boundary. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Detectability Of Local Water Reservoirs In Europa’s Surface Layer Under Consideration Of Coupled Induction

by Keith CowingOctober 10, 2023October 9, 2023

The icy moon Europa is a primary target for the study of ocean worlds. Its subsurface ocean is expected to be subject to asymmetries on global scales (tidal deformation) and […]

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Status Report

Life Detection On Icy Moons Using Flow Cytometry And Exogenous Fluorescent Stains

by Keith CowingOctober 9, 2023October 9, 2023

Flow cytometry is a potential technology for in situ life detection on icy moons (such as Enceladus and Europa) and on the polar ice caps of Mars.

Enceladus, Europa, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

How To Infer Ocean Freezing Rates On Icy Satellites From Measurements Of Ice Thickness

by Keith CowingOctober 4, 2023October 4, 2023

Liquid water oceans are thought to underlie the ice shells of Europa and Enceladus. However, ocean properties can be challenging to measure due to the overlying ice cover.

Values of (a) ice-ocean heat flux and (b) thickness under which a conductive steady state is expected at particular basal viscosities in an ice shell with no internal heat source. The Rayleigh number is shown in color; here the critical Rayleigh number is taken to be 106 . The white section of the color plot in (b) as well as in (c) corresponds to the region for which steady-state conductive thicknesses would exceed the critical Rayleigh number. (c) Values of ice-ocean heat flux and thickness (inset) under which a conductive steady state is expected at particular basal viscosities in an internally-heating ice shell (I = 10−6 Wm−3 ). Rayleigh number is in color. Related steady-state conductive thicknesses are shown in the inset.(d) Relationship between ice shell thickness and ice-ocean heat flux for different values of internal heating (color) in steady-state. Depth-dependent internal heating following the prescription in Equation 7 for particular reference viscosities are shown by the black dots (ηb = 1013 Pa s), plus signs (ηb = 1015 Pa s), and stars (ηb = 1017 Pa s). The black dots with the gray outline indicate ice thicknesses which would be unstable to convection for the given reference viscosity and a critical Rayleigh number of O(106 ). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Europa’s Coupled Ice-Ocean System: Temporal Evolution of a Pure Ice Shell

by Keith CowingOctober 4, 2023October 4, 2023

Europa’s icy surface likely overlies an ocean, but the ice thickness is not known.

The incident spectral fluxes, fp (λ; Ts, asp) for a range of stellar temperatures

Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Plant Biology, Status Report

Thermodynamic Limits On Oxygenic Photosynthesis Around M-dwarf Stars: Generalized Models And Strategies For Optimization

by Keith CowingSeptember 25, 2023September 25, 2023

We explore the feasibility and potential characteristics of photosynthetic light-harvesting on exo-planets orbiting in the habitable zone of low mass stars (<1 M⊙).

Maps of the CO2 n3 band area and the ratio between its two peaks. The disk of Europa is indicated by the black circles in both panels and centered at 2.7°N and 93°W. Gray dashed lines indicate the 45°W, 90°W, and 135°W meridians and the 60°S, 30°S, 0°N, 30°N, and 60°N parallels. The large-scale chaos regions Tara Regio (~10ºS, 75ºW) and Powys Regio (~0ºS, 150ºW) are outlined in black within the disk using the boundaries as defined by (11). (A) Mapped band area (indicated by the color bar) of the entire n3 CO2 band. The strongest absorption occurs in Tara Regio, the region of disrupted terrain centered to the right of the 90°W meridian. CO2 also appears concentrated in parts of the chaos region Powys Regio, which is shown on the left portion of the disk. (B) The mapped ratio between the 4.25-µm and 4.27-µm peaks within the CO2 band. The spatial pixels outlined in white mark the locations of the spectra shown in Figure 1. The 4.25-µm peak is the stronger of the two within the chaos terrain and at low latitudes, while the 4.27-µm peak is stronger in the colder, more ice-rich northern latitudes. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Distribution Of CO2 On Europa Indicates An Internal Source Of Carbon

by Keith CowingSeptember 23, 2023September 23, 2023

Jupiter’s moon Europa has a subsurface ocean, the chemistry of which is largely unknown. Carbon dioxide (CO2) has previously been detected on the surface of Europa, but it was not […]

Webb’s NIRCam (Near Infrared Camera) captured this picture of the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Webb identified carbon dioxide on the icy surface of Europa that likely originated in the moon’s subsurface ocean.

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Webb Finds A Carbon Source On The Surface Of Europa

by Keith CowingSeptember 21, 2023September 21, 2023

Jupiter’s moon Europa is one of a handful of worlds in our Solar System that could potentially harbour conditions suitable for life. Previous research has shown that beneath its water-ice […]

Model of the miniature underwater vehicle being developed at MARUM with partners from industry. It will have a diameter of around ten and a length of about 50 centimeters. Graphic: MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen. CREDIT MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen.

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Enceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Between Outer Space And Antarctica: Miniature Robots To Carry Out Research Below The Ice

by Keith CowingSeptember 12, 2023September 12, 2023

For years, scientists have assumed that there are oceans of water beneath the ice covers on the moons Enceladus and Europa. Even in outer space, the presence of water can […]

Types of research discussed here for hypothesized metabolism.

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release

Astrobiology Review: A Review on Hypothesized Metabolic Pathways on Europa and Enceladus: Space-Flight Detection Considerations

by Keith CowingSeptember 5, 2023September 5, 2023

Enceladus and Europa, icy moons of Saturn and Jupiter, respectively, are believed to be habitable with liquid water oceans and therefore are of interest for future life detection missions and […]

(a) A map of Europa’s trailing hemisphere, showing a selection of four of the 29 considered “rings of constant radiolysis” outlined in black, which are used to determine whether the weak 2.07 µm absorption feature is associated with Europa’s large-scale geologic units. The chaos terrains are shown in red and Pwyll crater and its ejecta are orange. For each ring, projected detector pixels are shown and their assigned geologic unit indicated by color, where chaos terrains are dark red, Pwyll crater and its ejecta are orange, and the ridged plains are gray. (Europa map image credit: NASA/JPL/ Bj¨orn J´onsson). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Spatial Distribution of the Unidentified 2.07 μm Absorption Feature on Europa and Implications for its Origin

by Keith CowingAugust 30, 2023August 30, 2023

A weak absorption feature at 2.07 μm on Europa’s trailing hemisphere has been suggested to arise from radiolytic processing of an endogenic salt, possibly sourced from the interior ocean.

Europa

Detectability Of Local Water Reservoirs In Europa’s Surface Layer Under Consideration Of Coupled Induction

Life Detection On Icy Moons Using Flow Cytometry And Exogenous Fluorescent Stains

How To Infer Ocean Freezing Rates On Icy Satellites From Measurements Of Ice Thickness

Europa’s Coupled Ice-Ocean System: Temporal Evolution of a Pure Ice Shell

Thermodynamic Limits On Oxygenic Photosynthesis Around M-dwarf Stars: Generalized Models And Strategies For Optimization

The Distribution Of CO2 On Europa Indicates An Internal Source Of Carbon

Webb Finds A Carbon Source On The Surface Of Europa

Between Outer Space And Antarctica: Miniature Robots To Carry Out Research Below The Ice

Astrobiology Review: A Review on Hypothesized Metabolic Pathways on Europa and Enceladus: Space-Flight Detection Considerations

The Spatial Distribution of the Unidentified 2.07 μm Absorption Feature on Europa and Implications for its Origin

Experimental Measurements of Benzene Ice Critical Saturation Ratios on Titan Tholins and Impact on the Microphysical Modeling of Titan’s South Polar Benzene Cloud

Predicting Fungal Contaminants for Space Missions Using Proteome-Wide Screening for Protein Orthologs

A Clearer View of HAT-P-1 b: JWST NIRSpec G395H Reveals Water, Carbon Dioxide, and Possibly Hydrogen Sulfide

The SETI Institute And ETH Zurich Join Forces To Search For The Origin Of Life

Rethinking The Origin Of Life At Seafloor Hydrothermal Vents