Europa’s Secrets by Celia Berrell

 

There’s hope Europa has a sea

where living things could really be

because this moon of Jupiter

has lots of solid ice water.

 

The pictures of Europa show

a crusty surface white as snow

with many lines and ridges mixed

like ice sheets that have cracked and fixed.

 

As Jupiter’s great gravity

distorts Europa’s cavity

that energy and friction heats

and melts some water underneath.

 

We think this frozen water layer

could make a sea that’s hiding there.

So just below that crusty shell

it’s possible some microbes dwell.

 

Or what if it turns out to hold

some animals both weird and bold

that roam Europa’s chilly sea.

True aliens to you and me!

 

First published in Scientriffic (March 2011)
Reproduced with permission of CSIRO
www.doublehelix.csiro.au 

Discovering life exists in places beyond Earth – like Jupiter’s icy moon Europa – could be a reality in our lifetime.  Thinking about it makes my imagination run wild!  What might these creatures be like?