Europa Rotating
Explanation:
Evidence has been mounting that beneath the
vast planes of ice that cover
Europa lies water --
liquid oceans that might be home to
alien life.
The smallest of
Jupiter's
Galilean Moons
(which include
Io,
Ganymede, and
Callisto), Europa's deep interior is composed of mostly of
silicate
rock.
Upon close inspection, many
surface cracks
stop abruptly only to continue on somewhere else -- indicating
surface plates that might be sliding.
The
above time-lapse sequence is a composite of images
taken during the
Voyager spacecraft flyby of the moon twenty years ago.
Not all regions are resolved in high detail.
The movie shows
Europa during a complete rotation,
which corresponds to a complete revolution around
Jupiter since
Europa always keeps the same face toward the giant planet.
The cause of many of the surface colors on
Europa also remains a
topic of research.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
