The ice crust of Jupiter’s moon call Europe is no longer in the same place, show images from the camera on board the Juno spacecraftfrom the United States Aerospace Agency (NASA). The images also revealed activities of saltwater jet species and ruptures in the typical ice layer that surrounds the satellite.
In September 2022, Juno made its closest flight to Europa, the fourth largest among Jupiter’s 95 moons, and came within 355 km of the satellite’s frozen surface. Records have been made near the moon’s equator. Europe has not had high-resolution photos since Galileo’s flight in 2000.
Scientists believe a giant ocean lies beneath the moon’s icy surface. According to NASA, the moon’s salt water may be one of the best places to look for environments where life could exist outside of Earth.. This ocean is associated with the theory that this layer is free and moves. This results in fracture patterns.
see the high resolution image here.
Now, the Juno team has found the same pattern in the satellite’s southern hemisphere, meaning the theory is even broader than previously imagined.
The images also made it possible to reclassify what was previously thought to be an impact crater, one of the few in Europe. In fact, it is a set of ridges that intersect creating an oval shadow.
Scientists were able to capture complex surface features that reveal networks of intersecting ridges and dark patches of possible water jets.
One of them consists of an area measuring 37 km by 67 km that has intrigued researchers. They called her Platypus because of her shape. The area is characterized by a chaotic terrain with hills, prominent ridges, and dark reddish brown material.
For the Juno team, these formations reinforce the idea that the moon’s ice sheet gives way in places where pockets of salt water are below the surface.
Unpublished images reveal new details of one of Jupiter’s moons
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