Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie
STEPHEN PHILLIPS hostreviews.co.uk / UNSPLASH

The search for life on icy ocean moons in the solar system

Frank Postberg , Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Heidelberg

Abstract: Until the end of the 1990’s the claim that there is no liquid water in the solar system beyond Earth, was the prevailing opinion. With the close exploration of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn by the Galileo spacecraft and the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, respectively, this view has been changed dramatically. Although located far from the sun where the surface temperatures are well below -100°C, liquid water exits in massive quantities in the form of oceans lying under the icy crusts of many moons circulating about the giant planets. The composition of Enceladus’ ocean can be probed by analyzing the moons icy plumes that, driven by cryo-volcanic activity, were found to be in connection with the sub-surface salty ocean. The compositional results from Cassini-Huygens changed the general view on habitability of the outer solar system. Recent observations by the Hubble space telescope indicated similar plumes connected to the subsurface at Europa. The main energy source that keeps the water liquid, even at great solar distances, is tidal energy dissipated into the moons by the strong gravity fields of their giant host planets. In the case of Europa and Enceladus the oceans are in contact with the rocky cores of the moons, allowing rock/water interaction at the ocean floors and there is strong indication for hydrothermal sites. In similar places on the bottom of Earth’s oceans hydrothermal vents harbour an abundance of life forms that thrive independently from sunlight. Missions are currently prepared to further explore the habitability of Europa and Enceladus and to actually look for signs of extraterrestrial life.

HIFOL Heidelberg Initiative for the Origins of Life
3 May 2017, 16:15
Haus der Astronomie (Königstuhl 17), Auditorium

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