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Possible Water Plumes Erupting on Europa


Waspie_Dwarf

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NASA’s Hubble Spots Possible Water Plumes Erupting on Jupiter's Moon Europa

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Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have imaged what may be water vapor plumes erupting off the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. This finding bolsters other Hubble observations suggesting the icy moon erupts with high altitude water vapor plumes.

The observation increases the possibility that missions to Europa may be able to sample Europa’s ocean without having to drill through miles of ice.

“Europa’s ocean is considered to be one of the most promising places that could potentially harbor life in the solar system,” said Geoff Yoder, acting associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “These plumes, if they do indeed exist, may provide another way to sample Europa’s subsurface.”

arrow3.gif  Read More: NASA

 

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what, no replies?

This is fantastic news.....Im surprised the alien fans havent been drooling about this one, especially as LIFE has been suggested

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NASA has been observing, Europa,Titan and especially Mars for more reasons than have been disclosed to the public.
Actually, there's nothing to drool about, as it's just geological activity on another celestial body in our system.
All the governmental agencies know there are other sentinent beings in the universe visiting our planet, and suggesting that life may exist elsewhere is probably just a way to slowly divulge what will eventually become full disclosure.

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It should make sampling for microbial life more accessible, but whatever comes out of these vents will be flash frozen and possibly killed by the extreme cold. A bizarre world to be sure; vulcanism, but with ice as your mountain, water as lava and sleet or snow as volcanic ash. I have to wonder about the pressure at these plumes and whether it will be possible to insert any kind of ROV into them for a view of what lies beneath. 

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What are alien fans? Like i prefer people from other planets thier matter is so much more exotic. Anyways europa is already a shoo-in for microbial aquatic life and these plumes arent really new news. As far as alien disbelievers go... Your probably kind of a shortsighted idiot if the only planet youve seen is earth teaming with all walks and you are sure the trillions of other planets are surely all barren. Life is too resiliant for that.

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Wouldn't it be an interesting universe or at least solar system if Jupiter had ignited into a star?

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1 hour ago, Sundew said:

It should make sampling for microbial life more accessible, but whatever comes out of these vents will be flash frozen and possibly killed by the extreme cold. A bizarre world to be sure; vulcanism, but with ice as your mountain, water as lava and sleet or snow as volcanic ash. I have to wonder about the pressure at these plumes and whether it will be possible to insert any kind of ROV into them for a view of what lies beneath. 

Will it? Life can be surprisingly durable

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade

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Tardigrades are notable for being the most resilient animal: they can survive extreme conditions that would be rapidly fatal to nearly all other known life forms. They can withstand temperature ranges from 1 K (−458 °F; −272 °C) (close to absolute zero) to about 420 K (300 °F; 150 °C),[7] pressures about six times greater than those found in the deepest ocean trenches, ionizing radiation at doses hundreds of times higher than the lethal dose for a human, and the vacuum of outer space.[8] They can go without food or water for more than 30 years, drying out to the point where they are 3% or less water, only to rehydrate, forage, and reproduce.

Just a thought, how neat would it be if they found Tardigrades not only on Europa but on Mars, on asteroids...what if Tardigrades turned out to be the most plentiful form of life in the Universe lol

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Tardigrades kind of look like tiny explorers in specialized space/bio suits. It would be cool if they found something very similar there.

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NASA whipped up the expectation when they announced findings, and then made us wait hours before they released this information. - Im a big fan of Europa, but we should be putting more effort into going to Europa instead of focusing on Mars, we've had Orbiters, Landers, Rovers etc on Mars. Mars is now boring to the general public. just like going to the moon, okay its not boring for the scientific community and those with a keen interest, but then its not these people who fund space exploration its the wider general public. - I've always said the way to get more funding for space exploration is to get the public's appetite for it, and what better way than to find life. - wherever we find water on earth we have life, so Europa is a prime candidate in our solar system forget about earth like planets light years away. - its time to stop p***ing in the wind and get a rover or some craft onto or into the ocean on Europa. nose dive right into one of these plumes. - i know its not that easy but c'mon its easier to land on a moon than crashing through a atmosphere like we see on Mars which has seen its fair share of crash and burns.

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51 minutes ago, stevewinn said:

NASA whipped up the expectation when they announced findings, and then made us wait hours before they released this information

They did what every other scientific institution in the world does when making an announcement, told the world they were having a press conference and then HAD a press conference. If people let their imaginations run riot and have unrealistic expectations then that is hardly NASA's fault.

51 minutes ago, stevewinn said:

Im a big fan of Europa,

Fan? This is science, not a boy band.

51 minutes ago, stevewinn said:

but we should be putting more effort into going to Europa instead of focusing on Mars, we've had Orbiters, Landers, Rovers etc on Mars. 

All of which have, and continue to make spectacular discoveries which are helping us understand the Earth as well as Mars.

 

51 minutes ago, stevewinn said:

Mars is now boring to the general public.

Who made you spokesman for the people of Earth?

The huge interest in SpaceX's Mars colonisation plans would suggest that you are very wrong.

You need to stop assuming that your low boredom thresholds are relevant to everyone else.

You also need to understand that the exploration of space is not done for the amusement of fan boys. It is done for scientific advancement and the improvement of humanity. As such it is in the right hands, the experts at the world's space agencies. 

Edited by Waspie_Dwarf
typo.
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On September 27, 2016 at 11:22 AM, Dark_Grey said:

Will it? Life can be surprisingly durable

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade

Just a thought, how neat would it be if they found Tardigrades not only on Europa but on Mars, on asteroids...what if Tardigrades turned out to be the most plentiful form of life in the Universe lol

I am familiar with water bears, however if you are taking about aquatic organisms that live beneath a protective ice cap in a relatively stable environment and are suddenly thrust into the cold vacuum of space, I would not bet on their survival. Tardigrades survive because they are adapted to periods of wet and dry, like the mosses they live upon. They can desiccate and freeze and recover because they live in seasonal, varying conditions.  I would guess deep sea bacterial life from our oceans suddenly thrust into outer space conditions would be killed as well. But hey, bacterial are tough little b*****s also, so you never know. It would all depend on if their cells are destroyed in the freezing process. 

Edited by Sundew
It didn't like b-u-g-g-e-r-s for some reason, good grief!
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13 minutes ago, Sundew said:

I am familiar with water bears, however if you are taking about aquatic organisms that live beneath a protective ice cap in a relatively stable environment and are suddenly thrust into the cold vacuum of space, I would not bet on their survival. Tardigrades survive because they are adapted to periods of wet and dry, like the mosses they live upon. They can desiccate and freeze and recover because they live in seasonal, varying conditions.  I would guess deep sea bacterial life from our oceans suddenly thrust into outer space conditions would be killed as well. But hey, bacterial are tough little b*****s also, so you never know. It would all depend on if their cells are destroyed in the freezing process. 

 

 

If they sent some sort of craft to try catch water from these plumes......why would it matter if the microbes survived or not? A send and return mission that captured water.....even with dead microbes in it....is STILL proof of life. We might bring back dead organisms, but all that proves is they were once alive

And therefore, PROOF OF LIFE!

 

 

 

 

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On 27.9.2016 at 3:11 PM, Pjjr said:

NASA has been observing, Europa,Titan and especially Mars for more reasons than have been disclosed to the public.
Actually, there's nothing to drool about, as it's just geological activity on another celestial body in our system.
All the governmental agencies know there are other sentinent beings in the universe visiting our planet, and suggesting that life may exist elsewhere is probably just a way to slowly divulge what will eventually become full disclosure.
 

:sleepy:

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15 hours ago, stevewinn said:

NASA whipped up the expectation when they announced findings, and then made us wait hours before they released this information. - Im a big fan of Europa, but we should be putting more effort into going to Europa instead of focusing on Mars, we've had Orbiters, Landers, Rovers etc on Mars. Mars is now boring to the general public.

It's my understanding that NASA is working on launching a couple of missions to Europa in the 2020s—an orbiter to scout it, and a lander that will follow a couple of years later.

Until then, I'm excited about the James Webb Space Telescope's capabilities and what it will be able to tell us once it launches in 2018.

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13 hours ago, seeder said:

 

 

If they sent some sort of craft to try catch water from these plumes......why would it matter if the microbes survived or not? A send and return mission that captured water.....even with dead microbes in it....is STILL proof of life. We might bring back dead organisms, but all that proves is they were once alive

And therefore, PROOF OF LIFE!

 

 

 

 

I bet the water plume is full of organisms, and beneath the Icy surface its liquid ocean flourishing in life, and im not talking about the odd microbe but complex life like we see in the depths of earths Oceans. If we are truly looking for life NASA would put Mars on the back burner. we've been there drove around the surface dug in the soil a bit took some photos and found zilch, okay Mars once had oceans and we gleamed that from aerial photos. big deal go for Europa which has more water than earth. Look at Europa and you can see lines on the surface where the icy surface has been cracking open due to the pressures/gravitational forces its a living places with hydrothermal activity etc - and unlike dry barren Mars for which we have a fascination that is holding us back and with the limited funding for missions to the stars - should we really be spending so much time effort and money on Mars?  We should be going to Europa get our feet wet and prove life exists. the discovery of the millennia or shall we mess about with Mars which is boring, and i can talk with some authority on this, more than the OP, i've watched all the Sky at Night episodes since 1989, and the Discovery channels "the Universe" and read and watched the Late,Great, Carl Sagans original series Cosmos, plus owning his books, and im fully up-to-date after watching Neil De-Grasse Tyson's newer version of Cosmos. - So with that said lets get to Mars Europa and Find those creatures of the unknown.

Edited by stevewinn
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On ‎27‎/‎09‎/‎2016 at 10:41 PM, Pjjr said:

All the governmental agencies know there are other sentinent beings in the universe visiting our planet, and suggesting that life may exist elsewhere is probably just a way to slowly divulge what will eventually become full disclosure.
 

They'd be lucky to find a sentient being at your address.

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On 27/9/2016 at 4:14 PM, Nnicolette said:

What are alien fans? Like i prefer people from other planets thier matter is so much more exotic. Anyways europa is already a shoo-in for microbial aquatic life and these plumes arent really new news. As far as alien disbelievers go... Your probably kind of a shortsighted idiot if the only planet youve seen is earth teaming with all walks and you are sure the trillions of other planets are surely all barren. Life is too resiliant for that.

"You are probably kind of a shortsighted idiot if you make statements about other posters beliefs whithout having the faintest idea what they actually are"

Would you care to point out who have said that there can't be life elsewhere in the universe ?

As far as I know none of us "disbelievers" have ever dismissed the possibility of alien life. Just bcause we don't believe that aliens are here making signs in our cornfields, it doesn't mean that we dismiss the possibility that alien life exist. When we get the evidence that alien life exists, I think you will find that the "disbelievers" will be some of the most exited.

We can see that many of the believers probably would be disappointed if scientists finds microbial life forms, but most (all ?) of us "disbelievers" will find that incredibly exiting. 

 

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19 hours ago, Rlyeh said:

They'd be lucky to find a sentient being at your address.

Is that how you welcome all newcomers to the board? I'd like you to explain what they would find at my address.Please tell me.Btw,nice to meet you as well!

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9 minutes ago, Pjjr said:

Does my comment bore you? I think were all entitled to our own opinion,don't you agree? Btw,nice to meet you! 

Wrong forum, that comment would be better suited to the UFO/ET or Conspiracy Theory sections. 

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On 9/28/2016 at 0:14 AM, Nnicolette said:

What are alien fans? Like i prefer people from other planets thier matter is so much more exotic. Anyways europa is already a shoo-in for microbial aquatic life and these plumes arent really new news. As far as alien disbelievers go... Your probably kind of a shortsighted idiot if the only planet youve seen is earth teaming with all walks and you are sure the trillions of other planets are surely all barren. Life is too resiliant for that.

One's like Pjjr I assume he is referring to. 

I have only ever seen one poster posit the Universe is likely to be barren, and considering the isolations the vastness offers, we may as well be. 

And, the one poster who did insist the Universe is more likely to be barren could not be proven incorrect. We have no proof that any other life does exist, as likely as it may seem, and in our Solar System, there is no proof life has risen any place but Earth.

So for now, the notion of a barren Universe has as much proof behind it as does a Universe teeming with life. Unless you have proof of other life? If so, I am sure NASA would be thrilled. Sure, building block for life everywhere offer a high likelihood that other life will exist, but right now, we just do not "know" that to be true. 

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5 minutes ago, Pjjr said:

My apologies to the board then,as Im still finding my way around here.

No worries Pjjr! We are here to help, I am sure you would get a better reception with those ideas in those sections of the board, this one is more science based ;)

Welcome to UM, hope you find your feet soon and enjoy it. We all have different interests I hope you enjoy discussing yours here :tu: 

Edited by psyche101
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On 9/28/2016 at 1:22 AM, Dark_Grey said:

Will it? Life can be surprisingly durable

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade

Just a thought, how neat would it be if they found Tardigrades not only on Europa but on Mars, on asteroids...what if Tardigrades turned out to be the most plentiful form of life in the Universe lol

What if we do find aliens, and what if their biosignatures match ours? What if Panspermia spread life through this solar system.

Are they still alien, or just very distant cousins? 

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3 hours ago, Pjjr said:

Is that how you welcome all newcomers to the board? I'd like you to explain what they would find at my address.Please tell me.Btw,nice to meet you as well!

I'd be happy to explain it to you as soon as you support your claim that "All the governmental agencies know there are other sentinent beings in the universe visiting our planet"

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