Crescent Europa

Discussion in 'Astronomy, Exobiology, & Cosmology' started by wet1, Feb 25, 2002.

  1. wet1 Wanderer Registered Senior Member

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    Crescent Europa
    Credit: Voyager 2, NASA

    Although the phase of this moon might appear familiar, the moon itself might not. In fact, this crescent shows part of Jupiter's moon Europa. The passing robot spacecraft Voyager 2 captured this image in 1979. Visible are plains of bright ice, cracks that run to the horizon, and dark patches that likely contain both ice and dirt. Raised terrain is particularly apparent near the terminator, where it casts shadows. Europa is nearly the same size as Earth's Moon, but much more smooth, showing few highlands or large impact craters. Evidence and images from the Galileo spacecraftorbiting Jupiter, indicate that liquid oceans might exist below the icy surface. To test speculation that these seas hold life, NASA has started preliminary development of the Europa Orbiter, a spacecraft that would use radar to help determine the thickness of the surface ice. If the surface ice is thin enough, a future mission might drop hydrobots to burrow into the oceans and search for life.
     
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  3. LIGHTBEING Registered Senior Member

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    Doesn't really look like a place that I would want to move to

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  5. Pollux V Ra Bless America Registered Senior Member

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    aaaah, Europa, harbor of life...
     
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