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Credit & Copyright: Kevin Hand
(JPL/Caltech),
Jack Cook (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), & Howard Perlman (USGS)
Explanation:
How much of
Jupiter's moon Europa is made of water?
No one is sure, but probably a lot.
Based on the
Galileo probe data acquired during its
exploration
of the Jovian system from 1995 to 2003, Europa possesses a deep, global
ocean of liquid water beneath a layer of surface ice.
The subsurface ocean
plus ice layer could descend over 100 kilometers in average depth.
Adopting a high-end estimate of 100 kilometers depth,
if all the water on
Europa were
gathered into a ball,
it would have a radius of over 800 kilometers.
To scale, this intriguing illustration compares that hypothetical ball
of all the water on
Europa to the size of
Europa itself (left) - and similarly to
all the water on planet Earth.
With a volume possibly greater than Earth's oceans,
the global subsurface ocean on Europa is a
tantalizing destination to search for
extraterrestrial life in our Solar System.
NASA's robotic
Europa Clipper was
launched
last year to investigate.
Jack Cook (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), & Howard Perlman (USGS)
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Europa - water - Earth
Publications with words: Europa - water - Earth
See also: