NASA's announcement of 'surprising activity' on Europa creates a frenzy among space enthusiasts!

Image courtesy: NASA

New Delhi: Jupiter's moon Europa certainly seems to have created a worldwide stir ever since NASA announced a teleconference, to be held on Monday, during which it will present 'surprising activity' found from images of Europa captured by Hubble space telescope.

“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,” the space agency reported.

Mere minutes after the announcement was made, social media went into a tizzy speculating what those findings might be. For those who aren't aware, Europa is known to be one of the best places to find alien life in the solar system and astrobiologists have even theorised that organisms could survive in its oceans.

People on Twitter definitely had interesting ideas on what the big revelations might be (read aliens). Check out some of the tweets below!

"Surprising activity on Europa" the only thing that can top 2016 spinning frothy craziness would be actual aliens

— John Leavitt (@LeavittAlone) September 20, 2016

So you’re saying it’s aliens https://t.co/XMYZEosvH0 — Sean O'Kane (@sokane1) September 21, 2016

I really want it to be aliens. Just once.

Unless they are the murdery-type of alien, then natural processes are okhttps://t.co/9XydRjS1S9 — Edward Clark (@Paladin1969) September 20, 2016

Unfortunately, to many people's disappointment, NASA was quick to dispel these speculations before they took the form of rumours and spread any further, with this tweet.

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

Participants in the teleconference will include: Paul Hertz, director of NASA’s Astrophysics Division; William Sparks of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore; Britney Schmidt of the Georgia Institute of Technology; and Jennifer Wiseman, senior Hubble project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Previous scientific findings on Europa had already pointed to the existence of an ocean located under its icy crust, but it was believed that in the future, teams would have to drill through the thick layer of ice before any signs of the presence of life could be detected.