Form of life on Europa?

Question

Europa, one of the Galilean moons of Jupiter, is always mentioned as a possible site of life. What forms would life on Europa likely take?

Answer 1

Carl Sagan pointed out that we can't accurately imagine life on other planets because we already have the ideas of life on our own planet in our mind (he tried to describe what life in a gaseous planet's atmosphere would be like and it looked like a jellyfish in the end... of course this also has to do with philosophy and the idea that nothing we think of is original, rather it just builds on what we've already seen... but back to the point..).

That aside I'll give it a stab.
Europa is a frozen world with a possible liquid water ocean under the ice.
That tells us that life there would likely be sea-faring animals. They could be small (probably like bacteria) creatures living near the cracks in the ice where the liquid water swells up during high tide. Unlike our tidal pool dwellers they would need to be much more hardy to deal with the harsh conditions on the suface with such a thin atmosphere.

There could be life under the ice that spends all of it's life in the cold seas but it would need to get energy from somewhere. It would need energy though. On Earth the animals that live so deep in the seas that they can't receive sunlight live near thermal vents. It is possible that there is something similar to this on Europa due to the tidal forces inflicted on the moon by Jupiter.

On Earth there are creatures that can survive the extreme cold but they do not tend to be very big, and without the energy from the sun it is unlikely that Europan life would grow very large (or need to be). Life on Europa is probably bacterial. Plants and algea like ours need sunlight. Larger animals are unlikely, though I suppose they could live off of small creatures and bacteria, but they would need to be incredibly hardy to survive, incredibly good at getting the food they need whereever it grows, and would probably look absurd without eyes like ours (although being able to detect IR radiation would be very helpful).

Answer 2

sure, there's available that existence exists decrease than Europa's floor. Europa does even have an particularly super ocean decrease than Europa's icy floor. Scientists think of that Europa's ocean is stored heat by tidal heating with Jupiter, which generates sufficient warmth to maintain water under the exterior liquid. there has been some debate wither the heating is sufficient to warmth it to a liquid state, yet there has been adequate data that proves that it may be actually liquid. Now, for you existence question. i think of there could be various micro organism, on the least. it is extremely confusing to declare what form of existence would exist in Europa, if it exists in any respect. i'm able to work out small fishes and tube worms and issues like that. bear in mind, existence does not inevitably want photograph voltaic to stay. working example, deep in Earth's ocean, there are hydrothermal vents the place entire ecosystems are observed there. decrease than those circumstances, not one of the gentle from the sunlight reaches to the backside of the sea, and existence is going on down there with none photosynthesis. The mind's eye is countless to think of the achievable existence decrease than Europa. yet, i do no longer think of there could be very more suitable species on Europa, because of the fact i think of they could of made their presence, like human beings and their satellites and area exploration.

Answer 3

Probably life similar as we have on earth near the underwater volcanic vents. Under its ice and water layer, Europa has an active volcanic interior, kept alive by the gravitational stress induced by Jupiter.

As life on Earth might have been started in such conditions as well, I propose we move Europa into Earth orbit and wait a couple of 100 million year for it to melt and its life to evolve.

Answer 4

You are all wrong!!! What we will eventually end up finding on Europa is People!!! That's because there's probably nothing alive there now. So, by the time that we actually are advanced enough to send a team there to look for life, they won't find any. Immediately after concluding there is no native life to be found, the reasearch team will all look at each other, and exclaim, "There's people on Europa!!!"

Answer 5

Any life that can swim, Europa has a ocean under its crust thats bigger then all the oceans combined on earth. The life that might exist are bacteria that can with stand extreme temperatures

Answer 6

if i recall, Europa is thought to have an ocean under a layer of ice. because of its distance from sun almost no light or heat will penetrate ice layer, however i would think some heat to be generated from tidal forces and radio emissions from proximity to Jupiter, maybe even some undersea volcanic heat vents, so perhaps the only way to steer your curiosity is to point you to deeper polar depths of our oceans, or the depths around heat vents. Life there is quite alien to the rest of the planet but does exist- some with bio-luminescence and/or exotic chemistry's.......

Answer 7

aquatic life, because europa is composed of possibly liquid water, but those life are "probably only microbial life forms...like bacteria

Answer 8

Hi. Probably mostly aquatic life. Hardy to radiation and pressure. possibly luminescent. The shape would not be particularly relevant.

Answer 9

well.. we obviously know that it would be some form of aquatic organisms, which a couple of you have said.. i believe he is looking more for specifics, as in a tubeworm.. or organisms that can take extreme conditions, such as halophiles

Answer 10

very simple single or multi celled creatures that would be about as intelligent as a lichen.