Images of Jupiter Moon Reveal Ice Rafts Floating on Watery Surface

New images of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa taken during the Galileo satellite’s sixth orbit of the giant planet reveal intricately ridged ice rafts floating on what appear to be a huge watery world, Jet Propulsion Laboratory researchers said Wednesday. “It looks like we’ve found the smoking gun that points to this underground ocean” as a source of life, said geologist Michael Carr of the U.S. Geological Survey.

The images, captured Feb. 20, are startlingly similar to icebergs covering the Earth’s polar seas. Researchers said that Europa’s geology appears to be surprisingly active, with a surface less than 1 million years old. The researchers believe the ocean bottom is probably covered with organic material, meaning that Europa has all the ingredients for life. However, Galileo mission chief Torrence Johnson cautioned that “we have no direct evidence bearing on life.”