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Ammonia Found on Jupiter’s Moon Europa

February 5, 2026 - Scientists at NASA made an exciting discovery. They found ammonia on Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. This could mean that life might exist there.

What is Europa?

Europa is the fourth-largest moon of Jupiter. It is almost as big as Earth’s moon. Europa is very special because it has a huge ocean under its icy surface.

Scientists think this ocean has twice as much water as all of Earth’s oceans together! The water stays liquid because Jupiter’s gravity creates heat inside the moon.

The Discovery

A scientist named Al Emran was looking at old photos from the Galileo spacecraft. Galileo visited Jupiter between 1995 and 2003.

In the photos, Emran found signs of ammonia near cracks in Europa’s ice. This was the first time anyone found ammonia on Europa.

Why is Ammonia Important?

Ammonia contains nitrogen, and nitrogen is very important for life. All living things on Earth need nitrogen to survive.

Finding ammonia on Europa is exciting because it shows the moon has some of the building blocks for life. Combined with the huge ocean under the ice, Europa might be able to support living creatures.

Where Did the Ammonia Come From?

Scientists believe the ammonia came from Europa’s ocean. Ice volcanoes (called “cryovolcanoes”) pushed it up to the surface.

Ammonia doesn’t last long on the surface because sunlight breaks it down. So the ammonia must be fresh - it came from below recently.

What’s Next?

NASA is sending a new spacecraft called Europa Clipper. It launched in October 2024 and will arrive at Jupiter in April 2030.

Europa Clipper will fly close to Europa nearly 50 times. It will look for more signs that life could exist on this icy moon.

Vocabulary Help

• ammonia = a chemical made of nitrogen and hydrogen (NH₃)
• cracks = long thin breaks in a surface
• gravity = the force that pulls things down
• spacecraft = a vehicle that travels in space

Grammar Focus

• Past simple: “Scientists found”, “Galileo visited”
• Present perfect: “NASA has made a discovery”
• Future with ‘will’: “It will arrive”, “It will look for”