Our closest view of Jupiter's ocean Moon Europa in 22 years

The image was taken on September 29th, 2022 as NASA's Juno spacecraft made its first pass of Europa at just 219 miles above the surface , the last close image of Europa was taken in 2000 when Nasa's Galileo mission passed by for a look.

Europa is one of the prime locations in the search for other life in our Solar System as we know it has a liquid ocean probably heated by hydrothermal vents.


This video gives a closer look at the Europa image in false coulor.

Already the images collected from JunoCam provide a higher resolution – 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) per pixel – than those taken by Galileo, even though Juno’s minimum distance was a kilometer further from the surface. Imaging technology has improved a lot in two decades, and astronomers expect to learn a lot from the observations. After all, new discoveries are still being made based on Galileo’s 20-year-old observations, and its images were reprocessed to be much clearer only two years ago.

In addition to JunoCam, the spacecraft carries instruments to see in the ultraviolet. radio, and microwave parts of the spectrum, as well as gravity sensors and detectors of high-energy particles. Each of these could produce important information from the experience of Europa’s vicinity.

“It’s very early in the process, but by all indications Juno’s flyby of Europa was a great success,” said Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in a NASA statement.

By photographing the terminator (the boundary between day and night) JunoCam collected images containing long shadows, bringing out the ridges and troughs that belie Europa’s larger-scale smoothness. The pit near the terminator and just to the right of center may be a rare surviving impact crater. Movements in Europa’s oceans are thought to cause shifts in the ice which quickly degrade craters that would last for billions of years on most other worlds, so if this is a crater it must be quite young.
www.iflscience.com...

a reply to: gortex

All these worlds are yours except Europa.
Attempt no landing there.

a reply to: DAVID64

You beat me to it!

a reply to: DAVID64

originally posted by: DAVID64
a reply to: gortex

All these worlds are yours except Europa.
Attempt no landing there.

Please explain for the Europa dummies out there.

I’m going to double down on being stupid. Why are oceans mentioned when all we see is baron grey land?

I could google this. But I’d prefer to be the lazy moron today, and have you guys answer. I’m sure there’s some other idiots out there that might appreciate the inside joke as well.

a reply to: KKLOCO

The film, 2001.

Oops , beat to the post .
But , I will add , those dang Saurians have already landed here...

a reply to: gortex

NASA - best CGI budget in Hollywoodland, best green screen facilities too...

a reply to: Oldcarpy2

Actually, the sequel, 2010.

Sorry, had to.

Huge fan of Arthur C. Clarke's works.

originally posted by: Oldcarpy2
a reply to: KKLOCO

The film, 2001.

Durrr. Thank you!

Now, about the ‘ocean’ aspect?

a reply to: KKLOCO

a reply to: infolurker

that made me lol, i spit my drink out. I blame you! As for the moon? I thought that it was an icey planet with miles of ocean. want to find the kraken? let's go.

a reply to: KKLOCO

Now, about the ‘ocean’ aspect?

Europa is covered by a thick sheet of ice but below the ice exists a global ocean , the stretching of the Moon caused by its orbit of Jupiter keeps the Moons core molten which heats the ocean to help keep it liquid but also cracks the ice sheet allowing the seeds of life from space to enter which makes it a likely place where life could flourish.

a reply to: gortex

If the core is molten, then there could be hydrothermal vents with crinoids all over the place. Europa gets hit with the same sort of asteroids as Earth does right? That's where DNA building blocks come from.

Or perhaps it is wildly inaccurate to say the same sort of asteroids laced with water and same amino acids fell to Earth and Europa, because of course each asteroid is different, and the ecological conditions of the hydrothermal vents are different, and perhaps the asteroids that collided with Europa contained a very different set of amino acids.

a reply to: GENERAL EYES

I stand corrected - 10 past 8 it was!

a reply to: KKLOCO

You did ask?

It's under the frozen surface.

a reply to: Oldcarpy2

No worries whatsoever.

I'm just a sticker for detail sometimes.

At least we can both love the films, right?

a reply to: GENERAL EYES

Yes!

Mind you, the ending to Rendevous With Rama made no sense to me?

a reply to: Oldcarpy2

I have yet to read that one but it's on my to-read list.

I'm swamped with work and barely have time to read my recent collections.

But I'll get to it, I promise!

a reply to: GENERAL EYES

Look forward to it.