Europa is the smallest of the four Galilean moons that orbit Jupiter and the sixth-largest of its kind in the Solar System. But unlike its counterparts, Europa has a very smooth surface, which has led scientists to hypothesise that a water ocean exists beneath the surface, which may be concealing life. It was revealed on the Science Channels NASAs Unexplained Files how this speculation became a strong probability after NASA investigated a series of mysterious red lines that criss-cross the moon.<\/p>\n
The series detailed in 2014: New discoveries suggest extraterrestrials may be closer than we think.<\/p>\n
Less than half-a-billion miles from Earth, could creatures be living on an icy world scarred red by mysterious bloody lines?<\/p>\n
In 1995, the Galileo probe explores Jupiter, but the gas giant is not NASAs sole target.<\/p>\n
Galileo is also investigating the planets moons, especially Europa.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Blood-red veins criss-cross the moons icy surface, some bearing an uncanny resemblance to roads on Earth, others chillingly similar to the Martian Red Weeds in War of the Worlds.<\/p>\n
Scientists attempting to explain the blood-coloured stripes remain unsure.<\/p>\n
In 2001, NASA scientist Brad Dalton took a closer look by measuring the infrared chemical signature from Europa and comparing it with samples taken from Yellowstone National Park.<\/p>\n
Mr Dalton explained: It has this strange reddish tint that looks kind of like rust, but it also looks a lot like some kind of slime.<\/p>\n
It occurred to me that we have certainly seen all kinds of forms of life that have that reddish-brown pigmentation here on Earth, so why couldnt some microbes out there be providing this colourisation?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Wouldnt you know it, the infrared test matched up almost perfectly, the features we see on Europa could be explained by life.<\/p>\n
It was all scary how well it matched.<\/p>\n
The narrator claimed: A positive result suggests we found life on another world.<\/p>\n
But Hubble astronomer Dr Neill Reid had another theory.<\/p>\n
He said: Theres actually a lot that we dont understand about the environment on Europa.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The fact that the streaks are red means theyve got a particular kind of chemical in them.<\/p>\n
The speculation is that it is probably sulphur thats contributing to the redness of those streaks.<\/p>\n
If you find water, then thats the first step in saying that there could be life here.<\/p>\n
In 2013, more evidence of a subterranean ocean emerged when Hubble spotted water gushing out of the moon near its south pole.<\/p>\n
The finding led NASA scientist Chris McKay to theorise that organisms found on Earth known as extremophiles may also be on Jupiters moon.<\/p>\n
He said: Extremophiles are organisms that live in environments that we humans would not want to live in.<\/p>\n
So life on Europa could indeed look like what we see on Earth.<\/p>\n
Small moons seem to be where it's at.<\/p>\n
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See original here: Europa is the smallest of the four Galilean moons that orbit Jupiter and the sixth-largest of its kind in the Solar System. But unlike its counterparts, Europa has a very smooth surface, which has led scientists to hypothesise that a water ocean exists beneath the surface, which may be concealing life. It was revealed on the Science Channels NASAs Unexplained Files how this speculation became a strong probability after NASA investigated a series of mysterious red lines that criss-cross the moon. Continue reading
\nWeve found life on another world How chemical signature of Jupiter's moon MATCHED Earth - Express.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"