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Ithica NY (SPX) Mar 01, 2024 - Decades before any probe dips a toe - and thermometer - into the waters of distant ocean worlds, Cornell astrobiologists have devised a novel way to determine ocean temperatures based on the thickne
Decades before any probe dips a toe – and thermometer – into the waters of distant ocean worlds, Cornell astrobiologists have devised a way to determine ocean temperatures based on the thickness of their ice shells, effectively conducting oceanography from space.
Europa, the fourth largest of Jupiter’s moons, has high odds of being habitable. Past studies suggest that an ocean of liquid water lurks beneath Europa’s 15-mile-thick frozen crust. This extraterrestrial ocean contains salts that prevent water from turning into ice, which makes it ideal for life. There is evidence of recent geological formations within Europa’s crust, including small, dark, dome-like features called lenticulae. Discovered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), lenticulae are thought to form above bodies of saline water half a mile to three ...