Europa is a fascinating moon of Jupiter that is believed to have a subsurface ocean of liquid water. Recent studies have shown that the ocean may be in contact with the rocky mantle, making it a promising place to search for life beyond Earth. One of the challenges in studying Europa's potential habitability is understanding the stability and composition of non-ice materials, such as vitreous salt hydrates, on its surface. A Linkam LTS420 stage was used in this paper to vitrify aqueous solutions of MgSO₄, in order to replicate Europa like conditions, to probe potential the stability of extra-terrestrial salt hydrates.
