NASA’s Juno spacecraft met closely with Jupiter’s moon Europa on September 29, and this week the space agency released the highest-resolution images of its frozen crust.
Europe has captured the imagination of scientists. There is theoretical consensus that beneath the moon’s frozen crust lies a vast salty ocean, potentially containing twice the water of Earth’s oceans combined. This is despite the fact that Jupiter’s moons are only 25% of the diameter of the Earth.
The hope is that wherever there is water it can host life, but Europe needs other important building blocks such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur, to name a few.
We also need energy to sustain life. Jupiter’s sixth moon, Europa, is far from the sun (about 485 million miles or 780 million kilometers), but scientists believe that Jupiter’s strong gravity causes tides on Europa that make me believe it stretches and pulls towards the moon, generating heat.
So while it looks like a desolate snowball on the surface, it could be one of the best candidates for hosting alien life in our solar system.
Surface Europe. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI
This image captures approximately 93 miles (150 kilometers) by 125 miles (200 kilometers) and focuses on the lunar network of ridges and canyons. NASA believes that the black spots in the upper right and lower center are signs of a surface explosion and that the Musical Quarter-like features measure 42 miles (67 km) from north to south and 23 miles (37 km) from east to west.
NASA added: “The white dots in the image are traces of high-energy particles that have entered the harsh environment of radiation around the Moon.”
This black and white image was taken at a distance of 256 miles (412 kilometers) with the Juno Stellar Reference Unit (SRU), the stellar camera used to guide the spacecraft. The camera resolution ranges from 256 to 340 meters (840 to 1115 feet) per pixel. This photo was taken when Juno crossed the night zone at 15 miles per second (24 kilometers per second), but the “glow of Jupiter” (the reflection of sunlight on Jupiter’s clouds) was dim on the ground. shed light.
Low light is where the SRU excels. Since the spacecraft reached polar orbit in 2016, instruments have detected shallow lights in Jupiter’s atmosphere and glimpses of the gas giant’s ring system.
“The team’s use of the Star Tracker science camera is a prime example of Juno’s groundbreaking features,” said Heidi Becker, principal contributor to SRU. Understanding how it relates to the crust tells us about the internal and external processes that make up ice.
This image justifies NASA’s upcoming Europa Clipper mission, which is scheduled to launch in October 2024. NASA said the spacecraft will collect detailed measurements to study the moon’s habitability. The goal is to determine if there is a place under the surface of Europe that could support life. “
Meanwhile, officials welcomed the community of “citizen scientists” who helped process the raw images produced by JunoCam, the spacecraft’s “public camera,” during the September 29 flyby, calling the study “not just impressive. , but useful “. More scientific examination “.
Image data: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS. Processing: Bjorn Johnson
“With every flight of Jupiter and its moons, their work offers perspectives that draw on both science and art,” said Scott Bolton, principal investigator at Southwest Research Center in San Antonio, Juneau. He uses the images to lead the way: these latest images of Europa’s surface features reveal details about how Europa worked and what might lie both on and under the ice.
NASA particularly highlighted the work of Navaneth Krishnan, who improved the color contrast to bring out the surface features more clearly.
The scientific value of such treatments should be obvious, but some efforts are insensitive.
Juno was launched in 2011 and took five years to reach the largest planet in the solar system. This planet has 80 moons and is like a mini solar system in its own right. The rover will continue its explorations of Jupiter and its moons on its extended mission until September 2025, or until the rover ceases to operate. ®
