There is such a special planet in the solar system, called Ganymede, as a satellite, but it has 15 billion cubic kilometers of water resources, about 11 times the water resources of the earth, and it is also known as the "super reservoir" of the solar system.
Due to its particularity and abundant water resources, Ganymede has become the focus of scientists' attention. Some scientists even believe that under Europa's oceans, life was even born.
Europa is the solar system's superreservoir
As the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter has a mass greater than the other planets in the solar system combined, and under the huge gravitational pull of Jupiter, it has captured many stars to become its satellites.
According to statistics, Jupiter has a total of 79 moons, and Europa is one of these 79 moons. Although Europa has the word "three", it is the largest moon of Jupiter and the largest moon in the solar system, and the reason why "three" is used to refer to this moon is because it was discovered by the third, not because it is the third most massive.
Europa is so big that many people think, with a diameter of 5,262 kilometers, accounting for 41% of the Earth's diameter. The diameter of Mercury is 4880 kilometers, and the volume is 26% larger than Mercury, which means that Ganymede, as a moon, is larger than the diameter of the planet.
The Moon, which we usually look very large, is only 3,476 kilometers in diameter, which is a little brother compared to Ganymede, and the diameter of Ganymede is 1.5 times that of the Moon.
Although Callista is larger than Mercury, it has only about half the mass of Mercury, because Mercury is mainly composed of rocks, and Ganymede has a large amount of water inside. This result is due to the fact that water is less dense than rock.
According to the data sent back by the probe, it was found that the average depth of the Ganymede ocean reached 100 kilometers, which is about 10 times deeper than the deepest trench of the Earth's ocean.
According to this depth calculation, then Ganymede stores 15 billion cubic kilometers of seawater, although the earth is called the blue planet, it is also an ocean planet, however, the earth's water reserves are only 13.8 cubic kilometers, and Ganymede's water reserves are about 11 times that of the earth, which can be described as a "super reservoir".
In addition to being the super reservoir of the solar system, Ganymede is also the only moon in the solar system with a magnetic field, which even most planets can't do. Having a magnetic field means that in the interior of Ganymede, there is an iron-rich flowing core, which is similar to the Earth's core.
This makes Ganymede full of vitality due to the active core of Ganymede, and it is the decay of radioactive materials in the core that produces a steady stream of heat energy, which gives Callista a liquid ocean on it.
Unique grooved structure on Europa
Ganymede was first discovered in the 17th century, when Galileo Galilei used a telescope to discover Europa, Europa, Callisto, and Callisto.
Although Ganymede was discovered relatively early, mankind has had a very limited understanding of Ganymede for hundreds of years, except that there is a huge moon on Jupiter.
This was the case until 1995, when the Galileo probe arrived at Jupiter, a probe specially launched to detect Jupiter, which explored Jupiter and the moons around it in detail.
After a detailed exploration by the Galileo probe, it was discovered that beneath the thick ice of Ganymede was a deep liquid ocean. Liquid ocean and water ice on Ganymede make up about 40% of Ganymede's mass, with the remaining 60% made up of rocks.
Ganymede is covered with deep troughs like river valleys, which cover almost the surface of Ganymede, a structure that is very rare on other stars, and scientists have been curious about why it formed.
Obviously, Europa, whose surface is full of water ice, could not form a river like the Earth, and after the river dried up, it formed a river valley, so how did these river-like gullies form?
According to the research, these gullies are arranged concentrically, suggesting that a large concentric ring was once formed on Ganymede. Eventually, scientists simulated and found that the cause of the formation of these grooves came from an impact that nearly shattered Europa.
Billions of years ago, an asteroid with a diameter of 300 kilometers hit Jupiter at a speed of 20 kilometers per second, which is equivalent to the simultaneous explosion of 1 trillion million-level nuclear bombs at the moment of impact.
The impact melted everything within 1,000 kilometers of Callisto, causing a huge impact on Europa's surface and interior, resulting in its unique grooved structure.
Does the strange audio on Europa mean the birth of life?
Scientists are interested in Europa because it is the largest moon in the solar system, and because it is a "super reservoir" in the solar system.
In addition to these reasons, Ganymede is also one of the few planets that has been found to have an oxygen-rich atmosphere, which is relatively weak, but which provides infinite reverie for mankind.
On April 14, 2023, the European Space Agency (ESA) sent a ship called Jupiter Ice Moon Explorer (JUICE) to conduct detailed explorations of planets such as Ganymede to verify their habitability.
In addition to probing the habitability of Ganymede, the Jupiter Ice Moon Explorer also has an important mission, which is to detect whether life was born on Ganymede.
We all know that water is the source of life, and the circulation of water accelerates the fusion of chemicals on the planet, creating favorable conditions for the birth of life.
Although the depths of the Ganymede ocean reach a depth of 100 kilometers and the pressure of the ocean has reached a terrifying level, some scientists still believe that life can be born and survive in extreme environments.
Perhaps in the depths of the ocean of Ganymede, life beyond human comprehension was born, NASA Juno probe, on June 7, 2021, when it was closest to Ganymede, the probe found a 50-second audio clip, which went from low to high, like the sound waves emitted by life like whales underwater.
Perhaps, one day, when human science and technology are advanced enough, they can descend on the surface of Ganymede and conduct a careful probing of Ganymede to see if it has given birth to life.
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