Life Elsewhere in the Solar System

Описание: In the fifth mini-lecture, we talk about potential habitable environments in the solar system besides Mars, particularly the icy moons of the giant planets. Jupiter's moon Europa is of particular interest, as it is believed to have an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy surface, which could potentially support life. The density of Europa is comparable to that of Earth's moon, indicating that it is mostly made of rock with frozen water on the surface. The icy crust of Europa is believed to be several kilometres thick with a liquid ocean potentially hundreds of kilometres thick beneath it. Other icy moons in the outer solar system, such as Ganymede, Callisto, Titan, Enceladus, and even Pluto, are also believed to have subsurface oceans of liquid water and may be habitable environments. The interiors of these moons may also contain hydrothermal vents, which are known to support life on Earth. However, we learn about the inaccessibility of these environments; that exploring these environments would be challenging, as they are far away from Earth and require breaking through thick layers of ice.

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This lecture is part of a larger course introducing astrobiology, which is the search for life in the universe. The full course can be found here: https://www.massolit.io/courses/astro...

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