With water and a magnetic field, could there be life on Ganymede? Silicon-based life is possible

The Earth is a planet with life. There are two basic factors for the Earth to have life: one is the presence of liquid water, and the other is the presence of a magnetic field.

So is there any other planet in the solar system that has these two conditions? Perhaps there is, it is Jupiter's satellite, Ganymede. Ganymede is a very large satellite, the largest of all known satellites in the solar system. In fact, it is not only the largest satellite, but also larger than the planet Mercury. Unfortunately, Ganymede is a guy with a strong appearance but a weak inside. Although it is large in size, its mass is very small, and it cannot be compared with Mercury at all. Why? Because Mercury is a rocky planet, while Ganymede is an ice ball.

From the outside, Ganymede is completely covered by an ice sheet, and the thickness of the ice sheet reaches more than 150 kilometers.

So is it possible that liquid water exists under this thick ice cap? Yes, it is possible. Why? Because Ganymede is a planet with a magnetic field. Ganymede is the only satellite in the solar system known to have a magnetic field. Why is it possible that liquid water exists if there is a magnetic field? Our Earth is a planet with a magnetic field, and the source of the Earth's magnetic field is the flow of iron-nickel materials in the center of the Earth. Since Ganymede also has a magnetic field, it is very likely that it also has a hot heart.

Since Ganymede's core is hot, the ice near the core may melt and form an ocean.

Based on the existing data analysis, scientists believe that there is a 10-kilometer-thick ocean under the ice cap of Ganymede. Is all this just speculation? No. In 2021, the probe took a set of images showing water vapor gushing out from the surface of Ganymede. Scientists believe that the gushing water vapor is likely caused by submarine volcanic eruptions, which makes the inference that "there is an ocean under the ice cap of Ganymede" more credible.

Does the presence of water and a magnetic field mean that there may be life on Ganymede? This possibility does exist.

How did life on Earth form? It was formed near the seafloor hydrothermal vents. Now Ganymede may not only have an ocean, but also have similar geothermal activities. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that there is life in Ganymede's ocean. Having said that, Ganymede is not Earth after all, so the possible life forms there are also very different from the life on Earth we are familiar with. First of all, Ganymede's ocean is not exposed on the surface, but is pressed by a 150-kilometer-thick ice sheet, which means that Ganymede's ocean pressure is very huge. To survive in such a huge pressure ocean, you must have a special body mechanism.

Furthermore, all life on Earth is carbon-based, but the possibility of carbon-based life appearing on Ganymede is unlikely.

Why? Because Ganymede lacks carbon. According to the data currently available, the carbon-containing substances on Ganymede are pitifully small. Since Ganymede has little carbon, what is abundant? Silicon. The main component of Ganymede is silicate, so the most likely thing to be born here is silicon-based life with silicon chains as the core. We don't know whether there is silicon-based life in the universe, but from a chemical point of view, this possibility exists.

What does silicon-based life look like?

It is very different from carbon-based life. First of all, silicon-based life certainly does not rely on oxygen to breathe, because silicon and oxygen combine to form silicon dioxide, which is a crystalline substance, not a gas. In addition, silicon is an element with excellent stability and heat resistance, so silicon-based life is obviously more heat-resistant than carbon-based life, and high temperatures of 200 to 300 degrees may not be a problem for it. Of course, all of this is just our imagination based on the properties of silicon. Whether silicon-based life really exists and whether there is life on Ganymede can only be confirmed when we have the ability to conduct a deeper exploration of Ganymede.