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> Jupiter from Europa's surface - Illustration

Jupiter from Europa's surface - Illustration

author: Walter B. Myers/Novapix

reference: a-jup99-00040

Image Size 300 DPI: 34 * 25 cm

Europa is Jupiter's fourth largest satellite and is slightly smaller than the Earth's Moon. Europa is believed to be composed of silicate rocks with a layer of water ice covering the entire surface. This image is inspired by recent discoveries on Europa of regions that look very much like pack-ice on Earth's polar seas during spring thaws. The perspective is from an altitude of several thousand feet. The large crater in the foreground is about a half-mile in diameter. It may be that beneath Europa's surface ice there is a layer of liquid water, perhaps as much as 30 miles deep. This subsurface "ocean" would be kept liquid by tidally generated heat.

Keywords for this photo:

ASTRONOMY - EUROPA - GALILEAN SATELLITE - ICE - ILLUSTRATION - JOVIAN MOON - JUPITER - PLANET - SATELLITE - SOIL -