Despite Stephen Hawking’s recent warning about the dangers of making contact with advanced alien life, NASA is moving forward with plans to seek life on planets and moons — in particular, Europa, Jupiter’s sixth moon. Europa is covered with ice, and astronomers now think that a sea of water, and possibly living organisms, lies under the ice layers.
This enhanced color photo of Europa was taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft. This image provides a good view of Europa’s surface.
Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
Related TechRepublic Geekend post: Hawking warns that aliens may not be nice.
Europa is the smallest of Jupiter’s Galilean satellites.
Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
Related TechRepublic Geekend post: Hawking warns that aliens may not be nice.
Jupiter’s four moons are called the Galilean Satellites because Galileo Galilei first observed them in 1610.
Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
Related TechRepublic Geekend post: Hawking warns that aliens may not be nice.
Uranus has two moons that each have irregular orbit patterns.
Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
Related TechRepublic Geekend post: Hawking warns that aliens may not be nice.
This stunning photo was taken by astro-photographer Steve Sumner. The view includes Earth’s horizon, Earth’s moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury.
Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
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Like most twin siblings, Earth and Venus have lots in common — mostly size and mass. But Venus’s surface and climate are drastically different from the one human’s inhabit.
Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
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The Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft from Earth to ever visit Neptune. The Big Blue Giant is a complicated combination of methane, ammonia, and liquid water.
Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
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These x-rays from Sirius B show that the Sirius A star sends its own light beacon into the dense darkness. Sirius A’s light beacon can be seen from telescopes.
Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
Related TechRepublic Geekend post: Hawking warns that aliens may not be nice.
This false-color image shows two galaxies pulling at each other and thus creating new stars. These galaxies have been working on merging for an estimated 40 million years.
Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
Related TechRepublic Geekend post: Hawking warns that aliens may not be nice.
This composite, false-color image makes it clear to see the effects of another galaxy crashing through the Cartwheel galaxy.
Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
Related TechRepublic Geekend post: Hawking warns that aliens may not be nice.
This image, taken from the Hubble space telescope, capture the activity involved in the birth of new stars. With galaxies constantly changing, it seems increasingly likely that we are not alone.
Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
Related TechRepublic Geekend post: Hawking warns that aliens may not be nice.
Nicole Bremer Nash is Director of Content and Social Media for HuTerra, where she uses SEO and social media to promote charitable organizations in their community-building and fundraising efforts. She enjoys volunteering, arts and crafts, and conducting science experiments at home. Nicole has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Transylvania University, and has experience in copywriting for education, print, business, and the web. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter via @HuTerra.
