Europa is the sixth moon of the planet Jupiter.

Europa is the sixth moon of the planet Jupiter. Europa was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei (and, some say, independently by Simon Marius), and named after a mythical Phoenician noblewoman, Europa, who was courted by Zeus and became the queen of Crete. It is the smallest of the four Galilean moons.

At just over 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) in diameter, Europa is slightly smaller than Earth's Moon and is the sixth-largest moon in the Solar System. Though by a wide margin the least massive of the Galilean satellites, its mass nonetheless significantly exceeds the combined mass of all moons in the Solar System smaller than itself.It is primarily made of silicate rock and likely has an iron core. It has a tenuous atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is composed of ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. This young surface is striated by cracks and streaks, while craters are relatively infrequent. The apparent youth and smoothness of the surface have led to the hypothesis that a water ocean exists beneath it, which could conceivably serve as an abode for extraterrestrial life.Heat energy from tidal flexing ensures that the ocean remains liquid and drives geological activity.

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[cosmosvision]

why does life in the solar system has to have water? Other life forms may breath methane for instance. They could live off other elements other than water???

[gibsonstrat66]

@cosmosvision i agree, but all we have for evidence is what we have on our own planet and unfortunately so far our planet holds our only example of life anywhere in the universe, since all living things we have ever encountered so far need water to live thats what were looking for, at least until we find life somewhere that can sustain itself off of something other then water of course:)

[Helge129]

@cosmosvision Water is the ultimate solvent, only rivaled by supercritical CO2.

[abusivepersian]

@cosmosvision There are a billion and one reasons why water is absolutely necessary for life any forms of terrestrial or extra terrestrial life. I'm not gonna list all but one the of the most important quality of it is that it needs to be fluid in a large range of temperatures and it needs to be a good solvent (aka. needs to be polar). It needs to be broken up into oxygen (which can act as an oxidizing agent). It has to be renewable/recyclable. + many many more reasons.

[jJuvyCrim]

@xLoneWolfICP lol what you mean

[xLoneWolfICP]

@jJuvyCrim lol im the only one here

[jJuvyCrim]

WINGS

[TeenageIronman]

@cosmosvision cuz its biochemistry

[h0tkn1f3r]

Water isn't necessarily required. All that's required is a medium in which atoms can mix with other atoms, be it liquid methane, liquid nitrogen, whatever. Stuff evolves according to it's surroundings. We used to think life needed sunlight, but we know now that's not true. I for one, believe there's life EVERYwhere. A billion different environments, a multitude of life.

[R3AN1MAT10N]

WTF? Wait. The continent "Europa" is called "Europe" in English. But the moon "Europa" stays "Europa"?! Strange. It's the same word with the same origin, thought.

[leahcimrac]

How the hell did all that water get "specifically" there? If thought the radiation from jupiter would have have a more destructive effect on the moons.