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A Window into Europa’s Ocean Right at the Surface

By Guest PostMarch 8, 2013Scienceastronomer, california institute, chemical environment, chemical exchange, epsomite, europa, frozen exterior, galileo mission, icy moon, jet propulsion laboratory, johns hopkins university, kevin hand, liquid ocean, magnesium sulfate salt, mike brown, mineral, NASA, osiris spectrometer, oxidation, pasadena, potassium chlorides, salty ocean, sodium chloride, spectroscopic feature, surface of jupiter, Technology, voyager

If you could lick the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, you would actually be sampling a bit of the ocean beneath. A new paper by Mike Brown, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., and Kevin Hand from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also in Pasadena, details the strongest evidence yet that salty water from the vast liquid ocean beneath Europa’s frozen exterior actually makes its way to the surface.

The finding, based on some of the best data of its kind since NASA’s Galileo mission (1989 to 2003) to study Jupiter and its moons, suggests there is a chemical exchange between the ocean and surface, making the ocean a richer chemical environment. The work is described in a paper that has been accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. (more…)

Mapping Volcanic Heat on Io

By Guest PostJune 11, 2012Scienceashley davies, bear fight institute, david williams, dennis matson, earth, erupting volcanoes, europa, floored volcanic craters, galileo mission, glenn veeder, heat flow, hot spots, io, jani radebaugh, journal icarus, jovian moon, life beyond earth, logarithmic scale, map, NASA, paterae, pattern of heat, thermal emission, torrence johnson, volcanic thermal emission, volcanoes

A new study finds that the pattern of heat coming from volcanoes on Io’s surface disposes of the generally-accepted model of internal heating. The heat pouring out of Io’s hundreds of erupting volcanoes indicates a complex, multi-layer source. These results come from data collected by NASA spacecraft and ground-based telescopes and appear in the June issue of the journal Icarus.

A map of hot spots, classified by the amount of heat being emitted, shows the global distribution and wide range of volcanic activity on Io. Most of Io’s eruptions dwarf their contemporaries on Earth. (more…)

NASA Probe Data Show Liquid Water Evidence on Europa

By Guest PostNovember 17, 2011Scienceatmosphere, body of liquid water, britney schmidt, chaos terrains, don blankenship, europa, galileo images, galileo spacecraft, global saltwater ocean, global subsurface, jovian system, jupiter, jupiter moon, mary voytek, nasa planetary mission, north american great lakes, potential habitat for life, solar system, space shuttle atlantis, university of texas

PASADENA, Calif. — Data from a NASA planetary mission have provided scientists evidence of what appears to be a body of liquid water, equal in volume to the North American Great Lakes, beneath the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon, Europa.

The data suggest there is significant exchange between Europa’s icy shell and the ocean beneath. This information could bolster arguments that Europa’s global subsurface ocean represents a potential habitat for life elsewhere in our solar system. The findings are published in the scientific journal Nature. (more…)

Tag Archives: europa

A Window into Europa’s Ocean Right at the Surface

Mapping Volcanic Heat on Io

NASA Probe Data Show Liquid Water Evidence on Europa