The idea of extraterrestrials is something that humanity has been wrestling with for a long time. Interest toward the subject skyrocketed in the mid-20th century and continues until today. It just goes to show how long-standing the mystery has been.
Now, where exactly can humanity expect to find aliens in the solar system? While Mars and Venus have been suspected candidates, there are other potential life hosts. Here are some of the suspected places where aliens in the solar system could exist.
Alien in the Solar System?
Saturn's Enceladus
Despite how icy Enceladus is, it is one of the suspected hosts of life. This is because of the immense activity that happens beneath the ice. The Daily Mail reports that scientists are aware of this because Enceladus expels ice, water, and organic material into space. The organic materials were seen to be nitrogen as well as compounds that bear oxygen. These are strikingly similar to those that take part in the earth's chemical reactions to produce amino acids, which are considered life's building blocks.
Aside from this, the moon is perceived to hold a vast salty ocean underneath its frozen surface. NASA has also found proof that hydrothermal activity takes place underground. Scientists think that this could facilitate the heat that is necessary for life to exist.
Professor David Rothery of the Open University and Professor Andrew Coates of the UCL think that Enceladus has high chances of harboring alien life. However, there are no scheduled missions to focus on Enceladus.
Saturn's Titan
Titan is the biggest moon of Saturn. In fact, it is actually bigger than Mercury. What makes the moon interesting is that it harbors rich organic materials and a simple chemistry that is thought to be important when it comes to facilitating life on earth.
The Daily Mail reports that experts have also spotted rain and lake evidence thanks to Cassini's flyby.
What makes the chemistry of the moon possible is its methane atmosphere. However, the source of the gas remains a mind-boggling mystery.
Like other moons, Titan is also thought to harbor an ocean in its subsurface. While it may seem that the world has seas, rivers, and lakes, these bodies are actually composed of liquid methane and ethane. This offers a potential habitat for life.
The issue, however, lies in the cold temperature of the moon. Considering its distance from the sun, it only receives around 1% of the solar warming that the earth does.
Jupiter's Europa
Jupiter's moon Europa is also a candidate for being an extraterrestrial habitat. It is the smallest of the four Galilean moons of the planet. However, experts think that it has the qualities to successfully foster existence. This is partially because of its huge surface and potential salty ocean that is warmed up by the tides. Such a system is thought to build a circulation system of some sort that ensures water movement and replenishes ice regularly.
Professor Coates states that among the Galilean moons, Europa is the most likely candidate because its waters get in contact with rock or sand, based on models. On top of this, Europa also has radiation that could fuel life. This radiation could result in oxygen reaching the ocean's subsurface.
The Europa Clipper would have the best chance of verifying whether life does exist in the satellite. It is set to deploy in 2024 and is projected to reach the moon by 2030. The craft will also look into possible subsurface environments to search for traces of alien life.
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Aside from these places, alien life is suspected to exist on Mars, Venus, Neptune's Triton, Jupiter's Ganymede, Jupiter's Callisto, and Ceres. However, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence still continues. Specialists are exerting continuous efforts to pick up signs and signals of alien life in the solar system.
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