MAGNETIC measurements by the Galileo spacecraft provide the strongest
evidence yet that a salty ocean that might harbour life lies under the icy shell
of the Jovian moon, Europa.
In January, when Galileo approached Europa, it found the magnetic field it
detected earlier had changed. The changes suggest that Europa’s magnetic field
is due to Jupiter’s field inducing electric currents in a conductive layer
covering Europa, says Krishan Khurana of the University of California in Los
Angeles.
“Although the electrically conducting layer need not be salty water, water is
the most probable medium on Europa,” the researchers report in Science…
