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Europa's future sea
Europa's future ocean. Computer illustration of an ocean of liquid water on Europa, a moon of Jupiter, in the distant future. At the present time, Europa is covered with a thick layer of water ice. As the Sun (upper centre) expands and heats up towards the end of its life (in some 5 billion years), the heat may be sufficient to melt the ice on Europa, forming this ocean. An atmosphere may also develop, as the thin clouds here demonstrate. A crescent Jupiter is seen at upper left. At upper right, from left to right, Ganymede, Callisto and Io are seen. Together with Europa, these three make up the four Galilean moons, discovered by Galileo in 1610.
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