---
title: "The Moons of Jupiter and Saturn Could Have Earth-Like Tidal Waves"
description: "New calculations suggest that two of Jupiter and Saturn's moons could have active tidal waves, much like those here on Earth, under their thick icy shells."
date: "2019-01-02"
modified: "2019-01-02"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/moons-tidal-waves-jupiter-saturn"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Moon"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "enceladus"
  - "europa"
  - "extraterrestrial life"
  - "jupiter"
  - "the digest"
---

# The Moons of Jupiter and Saturn Could Have Earth-Like Tidal Waves

![New calculations suggest that Jupiter's moons could have active tidal waves, much like those here on Earth, under their thick icy shells.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/jupiter-moons-thick-icy-shell.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Shell Game

New calculations suggest that Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus could have active tidal waves, much like those here on Earth, under their thick icy shells — and that could be increase the potential of finding extraterrestrial life on either moon.

"I can imagine organisms anchored to the sea floor or the ice benefiting from these waves," NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory researcher Steven Vance [told *New Scientist*](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2188318-crashing-tidal-waves-may-lurk-beneath-the-surface-of-icy-moons/>) of the new findings. "If these standing waves do occur, maybe these spots where they focus are also focal points for life."

## New Wave

The [new research](<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019103518304718?via%3Dihub>) in the journal *Icarus* comes out of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, where scientists calculated how the enormous gravitational pull from Jupiterand Saturn— the most massive planets in the solar system — would affect the liquid water under the icy shells of Europa and Enceladus, two of the planets' moons.

Scientists have [long been interested](<https://futurism.com/nasa-nuclear-powered-tunnel-bot-life-europa>) in the dark oceans of these moons as a potential home for life beyond Earth, so the promise of tidal waves under their ice is an exciting finding — it could give a way, Vance told *New Scientist*, for nutrients and energy to flow between the moons' cores and shells.

**READ MORE:** [Crashing Tidal Waves May Lurk Beneath the Surface of Icy Moons](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2188318-crashing-tidal-waves-may-lurk-beneath-the-surface-of-icy-moons/>) \[*New Scientist*\]

***More on Jupiter's moons:*** [Are We Alone? NASA’s Search For Life On Europa & How They Hope To Find It](<https://futurism.com/alone-nasas-search-life-europa-hope-find>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)