Space: Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io Could be Target for Life

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Space: Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io Could be Target for Life

Post by bystander » Thu Jun 10, 2010 6:17 pm

Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io Could be Target for Life
Space.com - 10 June 2010
When it comes to where extraterrestrial life might dwell in our own solar system, Jupiter's moon Europa often grabs the spotlight. However, its extraordinarily volcanic sibling Io might be a possible habitat as well.

A bit larger than Earth's moon, Io is the innermost of Jupiter's large satellites and the most volcanically active body in the solar system, with plumes of matter rising up to 186 miles (300 km) above the surface.

This extreme activity is the result of Jupiter's powerful gravitational pull, which causes Io's tormented solid crust to bulge up and down 328 feet (100 meters) or more, generating intense heat in Io due to friction. Although the heat near the volcanoes can reach some 3000 degrees F (1649 degrees C), high enough to keep lava liquid, Io's surface temperature averages at about negative 202 degrees F (-130 degrees C), leading to sulfur dioxide snowfields.

This means Io is a land of both fire and ice.

Io is generally considered a poor candidate for life because of all the radiation Jupiter blasts it with. In addition, no organic molecules have been detected on its surface, and it has only an extremely thin atmosphere devoid of detectable water vapor.
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Still, conditions on Io might have made it a friendlier habitat in the distant past. If life did ever develop on Io, there is a chance it might have survived to the present day, Schulze-Makuch suggested.

Io: Is Life Possible Between Fire and Ice?
With its unforgiving radiation environment and apparent lack of water, Io is usually not considered a target for astrobiological exploration. However, volcanic activity, particularly lava flows, would provide energy and inorganic nutrients that could in principle support microbial life. This life could have evolved on Io under more benign condition in early Solar System history and would then have retreated to subsurface pockets with steep temperature gradients at locations where liquid water or hydrogen sulfide-water mixtures are available as a lifesustaining solvent. Or, microbial life may survive most of the time in a dormant form to only be activated during a lava flow event. Though the probability of life on Io has to be considered low, a radiation-resistant probe to study subsurface liquids on Io would greatly enhance our knowledge about this exotic moon.

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