Researcher theorizes worlds supported by underground oceans, conceals life

One of the most profound discoveries in planetary science of the past 25 years is that worlds with oceans under rock and ice layers are common in our solar system. Such worlds include the icy satellites of the giant planets, such as Europa, Titan, and Enceladus, and distant planets such as Pluto.

In a report presented at the 52nd Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC 52) this week, planetary scientist S. writes in other galaxies as well, vastly expanding the conditions for planetary habitability and biological survival over time.

It has been known for many years that worlds like Earth, with oceans lying on their surfaces, must reside within a narrow range of distances from their stars to maintain the temperatures that sustain those oceans. However, IWOWs are found much further away from their stars. This greatly increases the number of habitable worlds likely to exist in the galaxy.

Worlds like Earth, with oceans on the outside, are also subject to many types of threats to life, ranging from asteroid and comet impacts to stellar bursts of dangerous radiation, to nearby supernova explosions, and more. Stern’s paper points out that IWOWs are impervious to such threats because their oceans are protected by a roof of ice and rock, usually several to many tens of miles thick, covering their oceans.

“Inner water ocean worlds are better suited to provide many types of environmental stability, and are less likely to be threatened with life from their own atmosphere, their star, their solar system and the galaxy, than worlds like Earth, which have their oceans on the outside,” said Stern.

He also points out that the same layer of rock and ice that protects the oceans on IWOWs also hides life from detection by virtually all astronomical techniques. If such worlds are the predominant abodes of life in the galaxy, and if intelligent life develops in them – both major “ifs,” Stern emphasizes – then IWOWs can also help crack the so-called Fermi Paradox. The Fermi Paradox, prepared by Nobel laureate Enrico Fermi in the early 1960s, wonders why we don’t see clear evidence of life when it occurs all over the universe.

“The same protective layer of ice and rock that creates a stable living environment also sequests that life through easy detection,” said Stern.