Extraterrestrial ecosystems in Europe

Much of the Astrobiology believe that the best place in the Solar System where to look for extraterrestrial life is Europe, one of the major moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo in 1610.

The measurements of its magnetic field by the Galileo probe seem to confirm that the satellite is coated by a layer of ice and salt water about 100 km thick.

It is precisely in this vast ocean where he hopes to find bodies, perhaps around hydrothermal vents similar to those found in the bed of sea land.

Richard Greenberg, a researcher at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona, suspicion, however, that the ice covering Europe is much thinner from what was thought until now.

After analysing the data sent by the Galileo mission, Greenberg cree which did not have more than 10 km thick. Thus, the biological niche that would not be restricted to the ocean bottom.

In areas where ice is fragmentation could prosper life forms dependent on sunlight, and even creatures like jellyfish in the ocean currents.