Planetologists identify the best places in the solar system for the origin of extraterrestrial life 15:51

American scientists from the University of Hawaii at Manoa believe that the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn have places with conditions suitable for the emergence of extraterrestrial life. We are talking about the so-called strike-slip faults on Ganymede and Titan, the large moons of Jupiter and Saturn. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Icarus

Experts believe that geological faults on the moons of gas giants appeared as these bodies rotated around their parent planets. The enormous gravitational effects create tidal forces that squeeze and compress the moons’ surface, creating giant cracks in the crust.

Although the surface temperature of Saturn’s moon Titan is -179°C, data from the Cassini space probe showed that there may be oceans of liquid water beneath the moon’s icy crust.

Additionally, Titan remains the only moon in the solar system with a dense atmosphere reminiscent of Earth. This means it has a similar hydrological cycle, with liquid precipitation filling lakes and seas. True, instead of water, liquid methane falls from the sky there. Despite this, Titan is considered one of the few objects in our system that could support life.

Studying the geology of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede has revealed the Philus Sulcus region, a region of strike-slip faults where traces of extraterrestrial life could theoretically exist.

Scientists hope to confirm their predictions in the next decade with NASA’s Dragonfly mission, which will launch in 2027 and reach Titan in 2034. The team hopes the tool will detect the materials necessary for life to emerge.

The European Space Agency’s JUICE mission, launched in April 2023, is responsible for the search for life on Ganymede and other moons of Jupiter. The spacecraft is expected to reach the gas giant in 2031.

Planetary scientists before determined Mars is a promising place to look for life.