This is an image of the surface of Io.
Click on image for full size
Can there be Life in the Environment of Io?
The moon Io is one of the only ones that has an atmosphere. But the environment of Io stills seems
This is an image of the surface of Io.
Click on image for full size
Can there be Life in the Environment of Io?
The moon Io is one of the only ones that has an atmosphere. But the environment of Io stills seems pretty unfriendly toward life as we know it
Io is very small, so there is not much gravity. For this reason, the air which comes out of Io's volcanos always drifts away. When the volcano's stop erupting, Io has no more atmosphere.
With little atmosphere, there is nothing between the surface of Io and space itself. This means that the temperature above the surface is very cold. On the other hand, when lava comes out of the volcanos, the surface of Io is sometimes super-hot!
All together these things add up to a very unfriendly environment for life as we know it on earth.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!Traveling Nitrogen
is a fun group game appropriate for the classroom. Players follow nitrogen atoms through living and nonliving parts of the nitrogen cycle. For grades 5-9.
You might also be interested in:
Jupiter's atmospheric environment is one of powerful winds, going 250 miles per hour, and temperatures from -270 degrees to +32 degrees (freezing temperature). These winds make it hard for life forms to...more
In July, 1996 a team of scientists said that they had discovered possible fossils of bacteria in a meteorite named ALH84001 that came from Mars. It was found in Antarctica in 1984 after having landed there...more
Saturn's atmospheric environment is one of powerful winds, going 250 miles per hour, and temperatures from -270 degrees to +80 degrees. With winds like these, it is hard to have peace and quiet. The region...more
The air of Titan is a lot like the Earth's, except that it is very cold, from -330 degrees to -290 degrees! Like the Earth, there is a lot of Nitrogen and other complex molecules. There also may be an...more
Organisms that are able to "make their own food" are called autotrophs, meaning "self-feeders". Some examples of autotrophs are plants and algae (shown in the picture). Both plants and algae use photosynthesis...more
In the warm early ocean, large molecules came together into a form called *coacervates*. Molecules such as these will form coacervates in the same way that beads of vinegar in oil come together. These...more
Over a very long time, gradual changes in the earliest cells gave rise to new life forms. These new cells were very different from earlier cells because they were able to get their energy from a different...more