Is there life on our solar system's water moons? Researchers want to find out.

The different moons in our solar system have their own seas. These regions could contain areas where life could be possible.

Munich – Is there extraterrestrial life in vast areas of the Earth? universeThis question has been troubling humanity for a long time. Scientists now even believe that Evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations It has been discovered. However, the search for life forms outside our planet is by no means limited to aliens as they are known from science fiction movies.

The focus is more on smaller potential life forms. The researcher in NASA Cornell University wants to know if our solar system’s ocean moons provide the right conditions for this. In a study titled “Ice-ocean interactions on ocean worlds influence the topography of icy shells,” scientists explain how they want to prove it. The results were announced on Feb. 13. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets Published.

'Oceanography from Space': Researchers Measure Moon's Icy Shells in Search of Life

The university contributed to the research. statement Published. Accordingly, astrobiologists at Cornell University developed a method to determine body temperature. Lunar oceans – such as Saturn's moon Mimas – They can be identified by the thickness of their icy shells. “This effectively performs oceanography from space,” the researchers explain.

“If we can measure the variation in the thickness of these icy shells, we can determine the temperature constraints on the oceans, which is not really possible without drilling,” says Brittney Schmidt, a professor of astronomy and earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell University. Could new research breakthroughs be possible? “This gives us another tool to figure out how these oceans work. The big question is whether things live there or can they live there?” Schmidt says.

Researchers suspect 'ice pumps' on Jupiter and Saturn's moons

The research team suspects that a process called “ice pumping” is shaping the undersides of the ice sheets of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s moons, respectively. The researchers use the ice sheets to calculate whether… moon– The regions – where ice and ocean interact – have temperature ranges within which the ingredients for life can be exchanged. To make the calculation, the researchers took into account the tilt of the ice shell and changes in the freezing point of water at different pressures and salinities.

Back in 2019, the team observed “ice pumping” in a crack beneath Antarctica. The researchers found that the freezing point of water is negatively dependent on pressure. So as depth and pressure increase, the water must be colder to freeze. So ice in the deep ocean can melt more easily. If the melted water is buoyant, it will freeze again under lower pressure. This cycle will continually change the composition of the ice.

Are the moons in our solar system the most Earth-like regions of alien worlds?

“Anywhere you have this dynamic, you expect ice to be pumped,” explains lead author Justin Lawrence. “Using the topography, you can predict what’s happening at the ice-ocean interface—where the ice is thick or thin and where it’s freezing or melting.” That’s why the researchers concluded that ice is pumping on many moons as well, but not all of them.

According to Lawrence, the “ice pumping” could be evidence that it could be among the most Earth-like of all alien worlds. The researchers expect that the ice pumping would be weak on Enceladus, a smaller moon of Saturn. However, on larger Europa, the team expects that there would be a lot of ice pumping and that it would have a big impact on the icy crust.