Habitable Moons

What does it take for a moon to support life?

By Andrew J. LePage

One of the most exciting discoveries in the last decade was the detection of massive worlds orbiting stars beyond the Sun. Astronomers were surprised to find that, unlike in our own solar system, some of these giant planets orbit within the "habitable zones" of their suns — that is, in the regions where liquid water could exist and, in theory, life could thrive.

It seems highly unlikely that life, much less intelligent life, could arise on (or rather, in) these giant, gaseous planets. But what about their moons? Could they offer roughly Earth-like conditions where a technological civilization might evolve?

http://skyandtelescope.com/resources/seti/article_255_1.asp