Science & Technology
Jupiter’s Moon Europa
- 23 Apr 2022
- 5 min read
For Prelims: Jupiter and its Moons, NASA
For Mains: Space Technology, Implications of Recent findings related to Jupiter's moon Europa
Why in News?
A team of researchers from Stanford University have found the possibility of water on one of Jupiter’s moons Europa, a prime candidate for life in the solar system.
- Earlier, NASA’s(National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Dawn spacecraft, dwarf planet Ceres reportedly found salty water underground.
- Earlier, Scientists also found signatures of water vapor in the atmosphere of K2-18b.
What is Europa?
- Europa is slightly smaller than Earth’s moon and its diameter is about one-quarter that of the Earth.
- Even though Europa has a very thin oxygen atmosphere, it is considered one of the most promising places in the solar system to find present-day environments that are suitable for life beyond the Earth.
- It is also believed that underneath Europa’s icy surface the amount of water is twice that on Earth.
- Scientists believe Europa’s ice shell is 15-25 km thick and is floating on an ocean, which is estimated to be between 60-150 km deep.
- Interestingly, while its diameter is less than the Earth’s, Europa probably contains twice the amount of the water in all of the Earth’s oceans.
- NASA is expected to launch its Europa Clipper in 2024.
- The module will orbit Jupiter and conduct multiple close flybys to Europa to gather data on the moon’s atmosphere, surface and its interior.
What are the Findings?
- Europa’s surface is mostly solid water ice and contains water beneath it.
- The double ridges – the formations which are most common on Europa’s surface and are like those seen on Earth’s Greenland ice sheet.
- Double Ridges of the moon are formed over shallow pockets of water.
What are the Implications of the recent findings?
- The double ridges of Europa increase the potential habitability of the moon.
- The ice shell, which is potentially miles thick, has been a difficult prospect for scientists to sample. But according to the new evidence gathered by the Stanford team, the ice shell is believed to be less of a barrier and more of a dynamic system.
- This means that the ice shell does not behave like an inert block of ice, but rather undergoes a variety of geological and hydrological processes.
- There is a possibility that life has a shot if there are pockets of water in the shell.
- If the mechanism seen in Greenland is how these things happen on Europa, it suggests there’s water everywhere.
What is Jupiter?
- Fifth in line from the Sun, Jupiter is, by far, the largest planet in the solar system – more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined.
- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are called Jovian or Gas Giant Planets. These have thick atmosphere, mostly of helium and hydrogen.
- Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot is a giant storm bigger than Earth that has raged for hundreds of years.
- Jupiter rotates once about every 10 hours (a Jovian day), but takes about 12 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun (a Jovian year).
- Jupiter has more than 75 moons.
- The planet Jupiter's four largest moons are called the Galilean satellites after Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, who first observed them in 1610.
- These large moons, named Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, are each distinctive world.
- In 1979, the Voyager mission discovered Jupiter’s faint ring system.
- Nine spacecraft have visited Jupiter. Seven flew by and two have orbited the gas giant. Juno, the most recent, arrived at Jupiter in 2016.
