Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton (AAAP) Monthly Meeting

Titan is the only solar system body besides Earth that supports standing bodies of liquid on its surface. There’s compelling evidence that beneath Europa’s icy shell is a global ocean of liquid water. Might these support life? Solar system exploration stands on the verge of a golden age of exploration, with the opportunity to search for signs of life in one or more of the ocean worlds of the outer solar system within the next two decades. Prof. Hayes’ talk will review what we know about the habitability of the ocean worlds Europa, Enceladus, and Titan, and discuss upcoming mission concepts designed to determine if they are, in fact, inhabited.