在浩瀚的太陽系中，隱藏著一顆含水量驚人的小型星球——木衛二，它是木星眾多衛星中的一員。儘管其平均直徑僅為3122千米，比月球還要小上354千米，但木衛二所蘊含的水量卻令人瞠目結舌。據科學家估算，這顆衛星上的水量高達36.5億立方千米，相當於地球水量的2.6倍，這一數據無疑為我們揭示了木衛二上隱藏的水世界。

Anthropology's exploration of Europa began in 1979, when the Voyager probe flew by the mysterious moon for the first time, revealing the vast ice covering its surface as well as the sparse craters. These features reminded scientists of Earth's frozen oceans and sparked their curiosity to explore whether there is a liquid ocean beneath the ice. The subsequent Galileo probe further confirmed this hypothesis, and by observing subtle changes in Europa's magnetic north pole, scientists deduced the existence of a liquid layer capable of conducting electricity underground, providing strong evidence for the existence of Europa's subterranean ocean.

Scientists speculate that the ice on Europa's surface is between 1383 and 0 kilometers thick, and that the ocean under the ice could be as deep as a staggering 0 kilometers. This depth is more than 0 times the average depth of the Earth's oceans, and if all the water on Europa were pumped out, the diameter of the water balls would be about 0 kilometers, far exceeding the 0 kilometers diameter of the Earth's water balls. This contrast further highlights the abundance of water on Europa.

So why does Europa have such abundant water and deep oceans? This is mainly due to Jupiter's strong tidal forces. Europa is tidally locked to Jupiter, repeatedly moving closer and farther away from Jupiter during its orbital cycle, as the tidal forces continue to rub against Europa's interior, generating heat and melting the ice inside to form the ocean. Io, which is also affected by Jupiter's tidal forces, is also in a molten state due to tidal action inside, creating a spectacular volcanic landscape, which is further proof of the power of tidal forces.

Humanity's exploration of Europa's oceans has not stopped. In recent years, the Jupiter probe Juice and the Europa Clipper have been launched one after another, embarking on a journey to explore Europa. These probes will carry a variety of advanced instruments to explore Europa's ice and subsurface oceans in depth. However, Europa is exposed to harsh radiation environments all year round, which poses great challenges to the exploration mission. The Europa Clipper is subjected to radiation doses equivalent to millions of chest X-rays every time it flies over Europa. To this end, the mission team carefully designed a unique flight trajectory to ensure that the probe was not damaged as it traversed the hazardous radiation zone.

Europa's oceans are not only staggering in water and depth, but also have the potential to be home to life. Scientists believe that its oceans may be directly connected to the rocky mantle, providing favorable conditions for the birth of living molecules. In this deep ocean floor, there may be a group of wonderful creatures that thrive near hydrothermal vents. As the probes continue to explore, we will learn more about the mysterious planet Europa, and we look forward to revealing more about its mysteries in the future.