(ORDO NEWS) — Scientists studying Jupiter’s moon Europa have discovered its resemblance to Greenland after studying ridges that stretch hundreds of miles. This is reported by the Daily Star.
Alien life may reside in the icy shell of Jupiter’s tiny moon Europa, researchers say.
The moon’s cold world bears a striking resemblance to Greenland, home to shrimp, jellyfish, slugs and snails.
Life could have evolved in shallow “pockets” of water near the surface, scientists say. They noticed that the ridges stretching hundreds of miles across the moon are similar to those in northwestern Greenland.
Dr Gregor Steinbrugge of NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said: “People have been studying these ridges for over 20 years.
But this is the first time we have actually been able to observe something like this on Earth and see how nature works its magic.
We are taking a much bigger step towards understanding what processes dominate the icy shell of Europa.”
The ridges on the satellite reach almost 300 meters, between which there are valleys half a mile wide.
Professor Dustin Schroeder of Stanford University (USA) said: “There is a possibility that life could be in pockets of water.
If the mechanism that we see in Greenland is the same as in Europe, then this suggests that there is water everywhere.
Professor Schroeder says his team happened to notice the similarity, adding: “We were working on something completely different, related to climate change and its impact on the surface of Greenland.”
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