If you pay any attention at all to the field of astronomy, and especially solar system astronomy, you've quite likely heard of Europa. But what is Europa? Europa is the name of a large moon in the solar system that orbits Jupiter. It is one of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter. These are the four large moons discovered by Galileo when he viewed Jupiter with a telescope. Of the four Galilean moons, Europa is the smallest, but still a very large moon. There are only five moons in the solar system larger than Europa: Ganymede (Jupiter), Callisto (Jupiter), Io (Jupiter), Titan (Saturn), and our own moon.
Europa is an extremely interesting moon in our solar system because it very likely contains liquid water below an icy surface, and where there is liquid water, there is the possibility of life of some type. It also opens to the door to future human space exploration as water is a needed resource. Having it available in the outer solar system is a huge plus in potential life/living stations in our solar system. Okay, I admit, this is very sci-fi right now, but a few centuries into the future? Probably not so sci-fi anymore.
The image above shows a whitish surface with lines cutting across. These lines are cracks in the surface as large plates of ice move and create friction. Although large in size, Europa should be geologically dead, meaning it would be too cold for liquid water to exist below the surface. Tidal heating from Jupiter creates an internal heat source, allowing water to exist as a liquid, as opposed to ice.
Despite what the movie Europa Report (watch it!) suggests, there are no signs of life, let alone advanced life, at this time. There is, however, much interest in learning more about Europa. An upcoming mission, Europa Clipper, will orbit Jupiter and further study the surface of Europa to learn more. The Europa Clipper is currently set to launch in 2025, so still several years out.
Most exciting moon in the solar system? Maybe. There are some other very interesting moons out there, but Europa has a strong case for this title.
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