Geobiologist says life is possible on Jupiter's moon Io

Talking about possible places to live often mentioned in the solar system Europe, an ice-covered moon of Jupiter. But perhaps we are ignoring another non-obvious candidate - volcanic Io.

In the new article for Big Think, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, president of the German Astrobiological Society, explained that our understanding of Io comes predominantly from data received by the Galileo probe more than 20 years ago.

Then we learned that Io is similar in size to our moon, but otherwise very different from it. The satellite is covered with volcanoes and red-hot lava rivers. These volcanoes are active and erupt so powerfully that lava is thrown hundreds of kilometers into space. And although the average surface temperature is -130°C, near the volcanic centers it reaches 1,600°C. This allows the lava to remain fluid and flood the surface. It cools and freezes, and new streams often follow the same path, reinforcing the deposits.

More recent simulations

show, What tidal heating capable of holding an ocean of liquid magma under the surface of the moon. The cracks through which magma comes to the surface during an eruption may hide life on the surface of Io.

However, there is currently no water on Io sufficient for life. Scientists suggest that at the beginning of the development of Io there was a lot of water on it, like on Europa or Ganymede, since the satellites formed in a region of the solar system where there was plenty of water ice. But Jupiter's radiation and tidal heating deprived Io, if not all, then most of the water.

The thing to remember here is that Io is made up of sulfur, which can support microbial ecosystems instead of water. Such life would not be intelligent, but for scientists, the confirmation of this theory could still be a great discovery.