New research suggests there’s less oxygen on the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa than thought – and that could affect what if any life might be lurking in Europa’s underground ocean.
Even with little or no oxygen, microbes might still be bustling around in the ocean believed to exist miles beneath Europa’s frozen crust. As for what else, “who knows”, said the Nasa scientist Kevin Hand, who was not involved in the study published on Monday in Nature Astronomy.
More work is needed to confirm these findings, which are contrary to earlier telescope observations of condensed oxygen in Europa’s ice, indicating a higher oxygen concentration, said Hand.
The new study is based on data collected by Nasa’s Juno spacecraft during a particularly close flyby of Europa in 2022 – a distance of just 219 miles (353km).
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