What NASA calls the “Platypus” is not an animal, but it could hint at where extraterrestrial life may be hiding.
According to Live Science, NASA has released new analysis related to a strange image of something seemingly moving beneath the icy crust of Europa, the extraterrestrial world where the agency plans to send a spacecraft.
This “mysterious object” is nicknamed Platypus, as it resembles the head of a platypus when viewed from above.
The “Platypus” structure marked by a yellow rectangle, while the blue rectangle indicates a mountain range that also shows signs of possible water seeping from the subsurface ocean – (Photo: NASA).
Europa is one of the largest moons of Jupiter, which NASA believes may harbor life.
Although slightly smaller than Earth’s moon, Europa resembles a planet more. It has a magnetic field, a thin oxygen atmosphere, and a liquid iron core. It is also thought to have an 18 km thick icy crust concealing a salty ocean beneath.
Could that salty ocean bubble up through the ice? The answer may lie in the intriguing image of the “Platypus.”
The “Platypus” is a nickname for an area approximately 37×67 km, featuring chaotic terrain including hills, mountain ranges, ice blocks, and dark reddish-brown materials.
This is the youngest feature in the photographed area. NASA’s new analysis suggests that it could very well be a location where the icy crust of Europa allows pockets of salty water from the moon’s subsurface ocean to flow into surface lakes.
About 50 km above the Platypus is a double ridge running east-west with strange markings around it resembling stains, possibly residue from salty water rising to the surface from Europa’s ocean.
Thus, while the Platypus is not a real platypus, it, along with the double ridge above, serves as evidence for the hypothesis of a subsurface ocean on Europa that NASA strongly believes in.
The movement of this structure also suggests that this moon is not a dead world, but rather operates much like Earth, which enhances its potential to support life.
Moreover, this area may help spacecraft searching for life access water containing materials seeping up from the subsurface ocean, which could provide evidence of potential organisms below.
The aforementioned images were captured by the Juno spacecraft exploring Jupiter. However, NASA plans to pay special attention to Europa with the Europa Clipper mission, scheduled for launch later this year.
