Ithica NY (SPX) Mar 01, 2024 -
Decades before any probe dips a toe - and thermometer - into the waters of distant ocean worlds, Cornell astrobiologists have devised a novel way to determine ocean temperatures based on the thickne
Ice Shell Thickness Reveals Water Temp On Ocean Worlds miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Decades before any probe dips a toe – and thermometer – into the waters of distant ocean worlds, Cornell astrobiologists have devised a way to determine ocean temperatures based on the thickness of their ice shells, effectively conducting oceanography from space.
Europa, the fourth largest of Jupiter’s moons, has high odds of being habitable. Past studies suggest that an ocean of liquid water lurks beneath Europa’s 15-mile-thick frozen crust. This extraterrestrial ocean contains salts that prevent water from turning into ice, which makes it ideal for life.
There is evidence of recent geological formations within Europa’s crust, including small, dark, dome-like features called lenticulae. Discovered by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), lenticulae are thought to form above bodies of saline water half a mile to three miles beneath the surface.
To learn more about lenticulae, the researchers developed numerical simulations using images taken using NASA’s Galileo spacecraft, which explored Jupiter and its moons between the 1990s and 2000s. The spacecraft, launched in 1989, spotted lenticulae spattered across Europa’s surface.
Europa jääkattes võivad valitseda elukõlblikud olud novaator.err.ee - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from novaator.err.ee Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.