Recent Hubble Telescope images of Jupiter's moon Europa suggest there are geysers spouting water most likely from an ocean beneath its icy surface.

According to BBC News, researchers said the water plumes are a sign the underground ocean is accessible from the moon's surface. It was previously believed Europa's surface was too thick to access the underground water source.

The Hubble images have shown a high concentration of hydrogen and oxygen on the moon's southern hemisphere. In theory, organisms could exist in the ocean, but would need a way to access it.

The study researchers examined the new Hubble images of Europa, as well as shots as old as 1999. Ultraviolet light signatures revealed signatures of water being broken into hydrogen and oxygen in two distinct regions.

"They are consistent with two 200km-high (125-mile-high) plumes of water vapour," said study lead author Lorenz Roth, of Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas.

The researchers believe Jupiter's gravitational pull influences the geysers, as they are most active when Europa is farthest from the planet. The geysers then vanish when Europa is closest with Jupiter. If their hypothesis is true, then it is likely that tidal acceleration could be forcing water to spout through cracks in the moon's icy surface.

The supposed geysers on Europa resemble those on Saturn's moon Encladus, which behave in the same way: peaking when the moon is farthest from its planet, Roth told Space.com.

"Europa is half as far away as Enceladus, so Earth-based observations of Europa's plumes will provide higher resolution and sensitivity than possible for Enceladus," said Roth.

The research team's work was published Thursday in the journal Science and was presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco.

Roth said future missions will be to determine the size, density and composition of Europa's plumes. If the researchers can successfully accomplish this, they may be able to study the moon's interior and not have to land on its surface.