The Surface of Europa
Explanation:
An
enhanced-color view,
this image covers a 350 by 750 kilometer swath
across the surface of Jupiter's
tantalizing moon Europa.
The close-up combines high-resolution image data with
lower resolution color data from observations made in 1998
by the Galileo spacecraft.
Smooth ice plains,
long
fractures, and jumbled blocks of
chaos terrain
are thought to hide a deep ocean of salty
liquid water beneath.
Though the ice-covered
alien ocean world is outside the
Solar System's habitable zone,
new studies
show the potential chemistry
driving its oxygen and hydrogen production,
a key indicator of the energy available for life,
could produce amounts comparable in scale
to planet Earth.
Hydrogen would be generated by chemical reactions
of the salty water in contact with the rocky ocean floor.
Oxygen and other compounds that react with hydrogen would
come from Europa's surface.
There water ice molecules would be
split apart
by the intense flux of high-energy radiation from Jupiter
and cycled into the Europan ocean from above.
Participate: Take an
Aesthetics &
Astronomy Survey
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.
