Extraterrestrial liquid water Extraterrestrial liquid water Extraterrestrial liquid water (from the Latin words: "extra" ["outside of, beyond"] and "terrestris" ["of or belonging to Earth"]) is water in its liquid state that naturally occurs outside Earth. It is a subject of wide interest because it is recognized as one of the key prerequisites for life as we know it and thus surmised as essential for extraterrestrial life. With oceanic water covering 71% of its surface, Earth is the only planet known to have stable bodies of liquid water on its surface, and liquid water is essential to all known life forms on Earth. The
Extraterrestrial liquid water combined with evidence of ongoing cryovalcanic activity. Scientists' consensus is that a layer of liquid water exists beneath Europa's surface, and that heat energy from tidal flexing allows the subsurface ocean to remain liquid. The first hints of a subsurface ocean came from theoretical considerations of tidal heating (a consequence of Europa's slightly eccentric orbit and orbital resonance with the other Galilean moons). Scientists used gravitational measurements from the Cassini spacecraft to confirm a water ocean under the crust of Enceladus. Such tidal models have been used as theories for water layers in other Solar System moons. According to at