Surface chemicals on Jupiter's moon suggest an ocean is underneath.
Jupiter’s moon Europa has an ocean under its frozen surface.
The ocean is thought to be around 62 miles deep and is likely made up of magnesium chloride, which leaks to the surface of the moon.
Mike Brown, the lead author of a new study from Caltech in Pasadena, California said: "Magnesium should not be on the surface of Europa unless it’s coming from the ocean. So that means ocean water gets onto the surface, and stuff on the surface presumably gets into the ocean water."
This means that researchers would not need to drill to study the contents of the ocean; they would just have to scrape some material from the surface of the moon.
Europa’s ocean may be an environment that could support life outside of our own planet.
Jupiter has a total of 67 moons that are known by scientists.
Four of Jupiters moons, including Europa, were discovered by the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in January of 1610.
Europa is a little bit smaller than Earth’s moon, but it is one of the brightest moons in the solar system because it is very reflective.
