RV: Segnales de vida en Europa

[Felix Ares de Blas <fares@...>]

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De:  Santiago Arteaga[SMTP:arteaga en cs.UMD.EDU]
Enviado el:  miercoles 14 de agosto de 1996 16:17
Para:  fares en iies.es
Asunto:  Re:  Segnales de vida en Europa

>?Ya veremos que nos muestras las fotos!

        Algunas fotos ya estan publicadas en 
http://newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/Galileo/index.html .  El paisaje que
muestran es muy sugerente, incluso para los no expertos.  En caso de
que existiese este oceano bajo el hielo, no seria exactamente una
sorpresa; si habeis leido (o visto?)  2010, sabreis que ya se especulaba
con esta posibilidad hace an~os. A continuacion os incluyo unos
parrafillos tomados de esta pagina, para que os pique la curiosidad.

	Santi



"These fantastic new images of an icy moon of Jupiter are
reminiscent of the ice-covered Arctic Ocean on our planet. The lack
of craters, the cracks and signs of movement, all indicate that this
might be young ice on a dynamic surface. It raises the possibility of a
liquid ocean on Europa, the only other place in our solar system where
we suspect such an ocean might exist. 

"These images, dramatic as they are, are not the best Galileo will
provide. These are distant snapshots taken during Galileo's encounter
with a different moon, Ganymede.

"We're not going to jump the gun. These pictures do not prove the
existence of liquid water on Europa, and the higher-resolution
pictures yet to come may not prove it. 

"We won't wait for all the answers. We'll release the data as soon as
it's available, 

"In some areas, the ice is broken up into large pieces that have shifted
away from one another, but obviously fit together like a jigsaw
puzzle," said Greeley. "This shows the ice crust has been or still is
lubricated from below by warm ice or maybe even liquid water." 

Europa is about the size of Earth's Moon and is covered largely with
smooth white and brownish-tinted ice, instead of large craters like so
many other bodies in the Solar System. Scientists believe its cracked
cue-ball appearance is due to stressing caused by the contorting tidal
effects of Jupiter's strong gravity. They speculate that the warmth
generated by tidal heating may have been sufficient to soften or even
liquefy some portion of Europa's icy covering.