Icy Moons Are Ocean Worlds: Six Hidden Seas in Our Solar System
The frozen moons of the outer solar system have been transformed from barren ice balls into prime candidates for hosting life. This article explores the six confirmed ocean worlds—Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Enceladus, Titan, and Mimas—revealing how missions like Voyager, Galileo, and Cassini uncovered vast underground seas. It also discusses candidate worlds like Pluto and the implications for habitability, emphasizing the potential for life in these hidden oceans.
At this point the only way for Enceladus to be more habitable would be if we found dense, walkable neighborhoods and an IKEA.
- exhilaration
Great read, other than Europa I wasn't aware of these other candidate ocean moons.
- miohtama
TIL
> The radiation environment around Europa is punishing; an astronaut standing on the surface would get a fatal dose in about a day
- pvaldes
Beautifully designed article. Very cool images and diagrams.
> We want rocks in contact with water,
But there is ice compressed between the water column and the xenoceanic bottom, ok. I see the problem.
What about rocks in the surface of the water?. Some volcanic rocks can float.