00:00First spiders on Mars are now on Europa.
00:02Scientists have just solved a nearly 30 year long mystery surrounding a mysterious spider-like
00:07demon on Jupiter's fourth largest moon, Europa.
00:10On March 29th, 1989, NASA's Galileo spacecraft discovered something strange lurking within
00:15Europa's Malinan crater, a sprawling spider-like pattern.
00:19Until now, scientists could not fully explain what had caused this arachnid-like asterisk,
00:24but a new study reveals that it likely formed in a similar way to Earth-based structures
00:28known as lake stars, which often appear on the surface of frozen lakes.
00:32The spider likely formed when an asteroid cracked Europa's icy surface, allowing salty water
00:36from the moon's underground ocean to seep up to the surface.
00:39The result is similar to the infamous spiders on Mars, which are created when carbon dioxide
00:43ice suddenly evaporates beneath the red planet's surface.
00:47The researchers not only recreated the mysterious shape in the lab, but they also gave it a
00:50new name, Daoan Alar, which means spider or wall demon in Irish.
00:55The new findings could help inform NASA's Europa Clipper mission, which will study the frozen
00:59water world beginning in 2030.
