Hypothetical: Life-bearing potential of Earth size moon of Jupiter?

[PlutonianEmpire]

While current formation theories limit the possibility of Earthlike moons of Jovians, especially so in outer system regions where there is more ice than rock, I did think of a question involving a hypothetical situation, where Jupiter did indeed manage to have a moon about the size of Earth with similar density and composition as Earth. My question about that is, considering Jupiter is about 5 AU's away from the Sun, and if it did manage to get said Earth-sized moon, what might be the best orbital distance from Jupiter for said moon to be to achieve habitability, if at all? (And changing the other moons' orbits as needed.)

I'm guessing a lot of the heat would be internal, but I think I recall that Jupiter itself generates heat of its own, which is slightly warmer than what it gets from the sun, so I don't know how much that would contribute to the heat on the Earth-sized moon, considering how much of Jupiter's heat the moon receives is probably dependent on its orbital distance from the planet.

I think eccentricity plays a role in tidal heating too somewhere...

[primummobile]

I would think that any body with the mass of Earth that was orbiting Jupiter would be subject to tremendous tidal forces. I'm not saying that there couldn't be life because we know that life exists in pretty extreme places on Earth. But I don't think there would be any kind of complex life. Look at how much volcanism is on Io because of the tidal stretching.

Jupitet does produce twice as much heat as it receives, but it doesn't receive much. I believe the cloud tops of Jupiter are in the neighborhood of -120C. That's not enough to warm anything in orbit.

[Ara Pacis]

The reason for the tidal heating on Io has a lot to do with other moons pulling it in the other direction. A single moon in a moon-planet system that is spin-resonant with its planet won't experience tides because it's locked. The moon would experience solar tides, but those are minor on earth and would be even smaller at 5x distance.

However, Io's tidal heating from the other moons does create another important issue for habitability: radiation. Io's small size allows the volcanic gasses and dust particles to escape, be dissociated by solar energy and then be accelerated by Jupiter's magnetosphere and planetary rotation to create a halo of plasma that impacts and affects the surfaces of other moons inside that zone.

[primummobile]

The reason for the tidal heating on Io has a lot to do with other moons pulling it in the other direction. A single moon in a moon-planet system that is spin-resonant with its planet won't experience tides because it's locked. The moon would experience solar tides, but those are minor on earth and would be even smaller at 5x distance.

However, Io's tidal heating from the other moons does create another important issue for habitability: radiation. Io's small size allows the volcanic gasses and dust particles to escape, be dissociated by solar energy and then be accelerated by Jupiter's magnetosphere and planetary rotation to create a halo of plasma that impacts and affects the surfaces of other moons inside that zone.

I don't argue that. It was early when I read the OP and I missed the part about removing or changing the orbits of other moons as needed.

[PlutonianEmpire]

The reason for the tidal heating on Io has a lot to do with other moons pulling it in the other direction. A single moon in a moon-planet system that is spin-resonant with its planet won't experience tides because it's locked. The moon would experience solar tides, but those are minor on earth and would be even smaller at 5x distance.

However, Io's tidal heating from the other moons does create another important issue for habitability: radiation. Io's small size allows the volcanic gasses and dust particles to escape, be dissociated by solar energy and then be accelerated by Jupiter's magnetosphere and planetary rotation to create a halo of plasma that impacts and affects the surfaces of other moons inside that zone.

Would the Earth-sized moon having a magnetosphere of its own be any beneficial?

[Ara Pacis]

Would the Earth-sized moon having a magnetosphere of its own be any beneficial?

In a single moon or a multi-moon system? It might help in the same way that it helps Ganymede WRT the Io-generated radiation. Having a magnetosphere of its own might help maintain atmosphere against and divert any incoming radiation to the poles.

[PlutonianEmpire]

In a single moon or a multi-moon system? It might help in the same way that it helps Ganymede WRT the Io-generated radiation. Having a magnetosphere of its own might help maintain atmosphere against and divert any incoming radiation to the poles.

Multi-moon, with the Galileans' orbits adjusted to make room for the Earth-sized moon. Of course, their arrangement and orbital distances depend on where the Earth-sized moon needs to be in order to be sufficiently heated by Jupiter in order to sustain Earth-like habitability, if that is even possible.

[Ara Pacis]

Multi-moon, with the Galileans' orbits adjusted to make room for the Earth-sized moon. Of course, their arrangement and orbital distances depend on where the Earth-sized moon needs to be in order to be sufficiently heated by Jupiter in order to sustain Earth-like habitability, if that is even possible.

At 5 AU, I don't think the surface would be warm enough, since most of the atmospheric heat and warmth comes from the sun. I suspect that any radiant or reflected heat from Jupiter would be negligible. Assuming you could get the other Gallilean-sized moons into stable orbits, the tidal heating may not be insignificant, but the heat flow through the crust would be similar to Earth, meaning not very high, unless it's via vulcanism. If the atmosphere were thick enough, it might hold onto the heat and warm up, but that would have ramifications on the habitability of the moon. But I'd ask a planetologist or a moonologist to confirm and explain in more detail.

[PlutonianEmpire]

At 5 AU, I don't think the surface would be warm enough, since most of the atmospheric heat and warmth comes from the sun. I suspect that any radiant or reflected heat from Jupiter would be negligible. Assuming you could get the other Gallilean-sized moons into stable orbits, the tidal heating may not be insignificant, but the heat flow through the crust would be similar to Earth, meaning not very high, unless it's via vulcanism. If the atmosphere were thick enough, it might hold onto the heat and warm up, but that would have ramifications on the habitability of the moon. But I'd ask a planetologist or a moonologist to confirm and explain in more detail.

Ah, makes sense then. I was under assumption that the vulcanism generated by the interacting tidal forces would be enough to pump enough heat and gas into the air to allow habitability.

Anyways, thanks.

[Ara Pacis]

Ah, makes sense then. I was under assumption that the vulcanism generated by the interacting tidal forces would be enough to pump enough heat and gas into the air to allow habitability.

Anyways, thanks.

If the heat came from the interior of the moon in all locations, then the ground would be really, really hot. If it comes out at only certain, limited locations such as volcanoes and crustal boundaries (because the crust acts as an insulating blanket on the geothermal energy nd is generally cooler than the atmosphere), then you'd have hot zones in certain areas and cold zones farther away. Whether that much heat is able to make life livable across the whole moon would depend on heat transport mechanisms, such as oceans and atmosphere and the heat flux at distant and proximate sources. Unfortunately, if the heat isn't enough to warm the entire moon, then you may see icecaps that capture all the liquid water, or the ice may blanket the entire moon with warm oceans underneath because the atmosphere would radiate away more energy than enters it from the sun and geologic heat. Alternately, you might have some areas that are warm and habitable, but other areas that are unbearably hot and dangerous due to geothermal heat flux and volcanism.

You'll have to run the numbers to see if any particular arrangement would work. Don't take my comments as the final word. I'm just telling you some of the difficulties involved. Maybe Orion's Arm has some articles that could help shed more light on the possibilities.

[Indagare]

I asked a related topic dealing with Earth-like worlds around Jovians. Many folks replied to it, if you want to check it out.

[PlutonianEmpire]

I asked a related topic dealing with Earth-like worlds around Jovians. Many folks replied to it, if you want to check it out.

Yep, saw that already.