Archive · 30 Jul 2026
Europa May Briefly Become Habitable as Sun Expands
When the Sun gets old, it will grow huge and shine brighter.
That extra light could reach Jupiter and its moon Europa.
The extra heat might melt some of Europa’s ice, letting water and maybe life‑friendly conditions appear on its surface.
Scientists think this could happen for a very long time, but only a few hundred million years, which is short in space terms.
If this happens, future space telescopes might look for signs of life on Europa and similar moons around big, old stars.
Scientists predict Europa could become briefly habitable when the Sun expands into a red giant.
The Sun’s increased energy could reach Jupiter’s orbit, warming Europa enough to melt parts of its ice shell.
This warming may expose subsurface oceans, creating a modest water‑vapour atmosphere that could support microbial life for up to 200 million years.
The habitable window would last only a few hundred million years, a brief period on cosmic timescales.
The finding suggests future telescopes could search for biosignatures on ice‑covered moons orbiting red‑giant stars.
- Who
- Scientists from the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University
- What
- Study predicting Europa could become briefly habitable when the Sun becomes a red giant
- When
- During the Sun’s red‑giant phase, a few hundred million years
- Where
- Europa, the icy moon of Jupiter
- Why
- Increased solar energy and Jupiter’s reflected light could melt Europa’s ice, exposing subsurface oceans
- Event
- Potential habitability of Europa during Sun's red giant phase
- Location
- Europa, Jupiter's moon
- Timeframe
- A few hundred million years
- Key Institutions
- Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, NASA
- Potential Life Duration
- Up to 200 million years