The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) just discovered something "surprising" going on the beneath the surface of Jupiter's moon, Europa. NASA announced the development and is set to dive into an elaborate explanation about their discovery on Monday, September 26.
"Astronomers will present results from a unique Europa observing campaign that resulted in surprising evidence of activity that may be related to the presence of a subsurface ocean on Europa," wrote NASA, as reported by Daily Mail.
Although the announcement was quickly met with the excitement that maybe, just maybe, NASA found proof of life in outer space, the agency quickly tweeted a spoiler alert about Monday's press briefing.
Monday, we'll announce new findings from Jupiter's moon Europa. Spoiler alert: NOT aliens: https://t.co/3IHT9H9Idp pic.twitter.com/11lHwsDzvv
— NASA (@NASA) September 21, 2016
Though NASA has just effectively shut down the alien rumors, hope is not completely lost. Experts say that whatever is going on under Europa's surface may be a step toward finding evidence that there is life in outer space.
In an effort to get as much information as possible about NASA's cryptic announcement, Business Insider contacted a Europa expert and planetary scientist at Washington University, Bill McKinnon who expressed that it might be related to the plumes that were discovered on Europa.
In 2012, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a pixilated picture of what was normally invisible plumes of water vapor. The height of was more than twenty times the height of Mount Everest which led the researchers to speculate that there is something big happening beneath Europa's surface.
If proven that the plumes were connected to the subsurface water ocean, it means that Europa is "potentially habitable." Furthermore, they could study the make of the Jupiter's moon without having to drill through the icy make of Europa.
Whatever the announcement may be, the secrecy will be unveiled at 2:00p.m. EDT on NASA TV.
