Europa Archives

March 28, 2023March 28, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti

Europa’s Ice Rotates at a Different Speed From its Interior. Now We May Know Why

Image of Europa taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft on Sept 29, 2022. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Southwest Research Institute/Malin Space Science Systems)

Jupiter’s moon, Europa, contains a large ocean of salty water beneath its icy shell, some of which makes it to the surface from time to time, and this vast ocean could host life, as well. Europa was most recently observed by NASA’s Juno spacecraft, but current examinations of the moon’s internal ocean are limited to computer models and simulations produced here on Earth, as no mission is actively exploring this tiny moon orbiting Jupiter. Other than the internal water occasionally breaching the icy shell and making it to the surface, what other effects could the internal ocean have on the icy shell that encloses it?

February 25, 2023February 25, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti

Europa Could be Covered in Salty Ice

Jupiter's second Galilean moon, Europa. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Galileo spacecraft)

Jupiter’s second Galilean moon, Europa, is one of the most fascinating planetary objects in our Solar System with its massive subsurface ocean that’s hypothesized to contain almost three times the volume of water as the entire Earth, which opens the possibility for life to potentially exist on this small moon. But while Europa’s interior ocean could potentially be habitable for life, its unique surface features equally draw intrigue from scientists, specifically the large red streaks that crisscross its cracked surface.

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February 20, 2023February 20, 2023 by Matt Williams

All of Jupiter's Large Moons Have Auroras

Artist's concept of aurorae on Ganymede - auroral belt shifting may indicate a subsurface saline ocean. Credit: NASA/ESA

Jupiter is well known for its spectacular aurorae, thanks in no small part to the Juno orbiter and recent images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Like Earth, these dazzling displays result from charged solar particles interacting with Jupiter’s magnetic field and atmosphere. Over the years, astronomers have also detected faint aurorae in the atmospheres of Jupiter’s largest moons (aka. the “Galilean Moons“). These are also the result of interaction, in this case, between Jupiter’s magnetic field and particles emanating from the moons’ atmospheres.

Detecting these faint aurorae has always been a challenge because of sunlight reflected from the moons’ surfaces completely washes out their light signatures. In a series of recent papers, a team led by the University of Boston and Caltech (with support from NASA) observed the Galilean Moons as they passed into Jupiter’s shadow. These observations revealed that Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto all experience oxygen-aurorae in their atmospheres. Moreover, these aurorae are deep red and almost 15 times brighter than the familiar green patterns we see on Earth.

February 13, 2023February 13, 2023 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

Scientists are Simulating Europa in the Lab, Learning What They Can Before Clipper Arrives in 2030

A "true color" image of the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa as seen by the Galileo spacecraft. In 2030, the Europa Clipper mission will start its close flybys of this ocean world. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute

What’s the best way to learn about Europa before we actually land a mission there? A team of scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory created a mini version of this icy world in the lab. It’s giving them some fascinating insights into how that moon’s icy surface behaves and providing useful information for planners of the upcoming Europa Clipper flyby mission.

January 16, 2023January 25, 2023 by Matt Williams

A Hybrid Fission/Fusion Reactor Could be the Best way to get Through the ice on Europa

This reprocessed colour view of Jupiter’s moon Europa was made from images taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In the coming years, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will send two robotic missions to explore Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. These are none other than NASA’s Europa Clipper and the ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), which will launch in 2024, and 2023 (respectively). Once they arrive by the 2030s, they will study Europa’s surface with a series of flybys to determine if its interior ocean could support life. These will be the first astrobiology missions to an icy moon in the outer Solar System, collectively known as “Ocean Worlds.”

One of the many challenges for these missions is how to mine through the thick icy crusts and obtain samples from the interior ocean for analysis. According to a proposal by Dr. Theresa Benyo (a physicist and the principal investigator of the lattice confinement fusion project at NASA’s Glenn Research Center), a possible solution is to use a special reactor that relies on fission and fusion reactions. This proposal was selected for Phase I development by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which includes a $12,500 grant.

December 21, 2022December 21, 2022 by Evan Gough

Comet Impacts Could Have Brought the Raw Ingredients for Life to Europa’s Ocean

An artist's concept of a comet or asteroid impact on Jupiter's moon Europa. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Jupiter is the most-visited planet in the Solar System, thanks largely to NASA. It all started with Pioneer 10 and 11, followed by Voyager 1 and 2. Those were all flyby missions, and it wasn’t until 1996 that the Galileo spacecraft became the first to orbit the gas giant and even send a probe into its atmosphere. Then in 2016, the Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter and is still there today.

All of these missions were focused on Jupiter, but along the way, they gave us tantalizing hints of the icy moon Europa. The most impactful thing we’ve learned is that Europa, though frozen on the surface, holds an ocean under all that ice. And that warm, salty ocean might contain more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined.

Might it hold life?

November 25, 2022November 25, 2022 by Evan Gough

If We’re Going to Get Under the Ice on Europa, How Will We Send a Signal Back to the Surface?

Artist’s rendering of the Europa “tunnelbot.” (Credit: Alexander Pawlusik, LERCIP Internship Program NASA Glenn Research Center)

If we send some type of nuclear-powered tunnelbot to Europa to seek life under its icy shield, how will we know what it finds? How can a probe immersed in water under all that ice communicate with Earth? We only have hints about the nature of that ice, what layers it has and what pockets of water it might hold.

All we know is that it’s tens of kilometres thick and as hard as granite.

November 7, 2022November 7, 2022 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

Hydrothermal Vents Under the Arctic Ice are Perfect Places to Practice Exploring Europa

This illustration of Europa (foreground), Jupiter (right) and Io (middle) is an artist's concept showing possible oceanic volcanoes under its icy surface. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Someday on Europa, there’ll be a robotic explorer diving beneath its icy surface to find volcanoes. Yes, even though it’s an ice world, Europa shows signs of internal activity. Planetary scientists think volcanic features, similar to hydrothermal vents here on Earth, exist on Europa’s ocean floor. But, how to understand them?

October 14, 2022October 14, 2022 by Andy Tomaswick

New Views of Ganymede and Europa From Earth’s Most Powerful Telescope

Scouting mission locations in the outer solar system is complicated. It is difficult to know what you find before you get there with a probe, and once you’re already there, changing trajectories to look at the most exciting parts of the system is difficult. A much better option would be to map out the system in detail before the probe arrives. That is precisely what a team at the University of Leicester is doing in the expectation of the arrival of the JUICE and Europa Clipper probes to the Jupiter system.

October 12, 2022October 12, 2022 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

If There are Shallow Lakes Under the Ice on Europa, Clipper Will Find Them

“All these worlds are yours except Europa. Attempt no landings there.” That was the ominous message sent to Earth in the movie “2010” when Jupiter was about to transform to become a star. Thanks to that transformation, Europa would become a life-bearing world. The aliens didn’t want Earthlings messing that up. That was in the movie.