Astronomers from the Space Flight Center. Goddard recorded the remnants of water vapor over Europe - the satellite of Jupiter.

Europe is one of the largest satellites of Jupiter. This ice crust has a thickness of 5 to 20 km.

Under it, hypothetically, there may be liquid water. This becomes possible due to the fact that the core of this celestial body is hot. So it is because of the gravitational effects of the mother planet. After all, the ocean at such a considerable distance from the Sun could freeze. It can exist in a liquid state due to the processes of tidal friction.

It is estimated that the area of ​​liquid water is approximately one tenth of the radius of the satellite. Under the inner ocean is a mantle of silicates and a hot core, consisting mainly of iron.

More than two decades ago, the Galileo spacecraft discovered a liquid on the surface of Europe that could conduct electric current. When analyzing the results of observations, it turned out that there are large plumes of liquid on the surface of the satellite. The Hubble Space Telescope confirmed the assumption.

In a work devoted to measurements of water vapor in a calm environment, which is located in Europe, scientists compared the data. They added satellite research results from the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Only in one observation did the remains of water vapor be detected.

The fact that noticeable volumes of water vapor could be seen in only one episode of observations indicates that the causes of this phenomenon are internal. Such strong releases of water are rare and sporadic.

These results showed that there really is water in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s satellite. It is likely that its source is hot streams emitted from under the ice. These are probably geysers.

Astronomers led by Tom Nordheim put forward an interesting hypothesis according to which on the satellite of Jupiter there can be microorganisms under the ice, and not at a depth of several tens of kilometers, as previously assumed.

But, according to astronomers, steam emissions on a satellite can occur at a lower level. Accurate data can be obtained as early as the next decade. It is likely that then it will be possible to study the effect on the formation of water vapor of a very powerful magnetic field of Jupiter, as well as meteorites, which are very many near Jupiter. Interestingly, Europe is one of the promising places to search for extraterrestrial life.

Traces of it can potentially be fixed if underground liquid water flows to the surface. Perhaps this satellite will be explored in the future by high-tech probes (now it is JUICE or Europa Clipper). So far, scientists cannot relate the presence of the subglacial ocean and the presence of water vapor emissions into the satellite's atmosphere.