Europa Water
New findings from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope show suspected water plumes erupting from Jupiter's icy moon Europa. These observations bolster earlier Hubble work suggesting that Europa is venting water vapor. A team of astronomers, led by William Sparks of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, observed these finger-like projections while viewing Europa's limb as the moon passed in front of Jupiter. The team was inspired to use this observing method by studies of atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars.
Three of ten transit images show evidence of water plumes.
The location of water plues on Europa is labeled on a composite image.
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Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/ESA/W. Sparks (STScI)/USGS Astrogeology Science Center
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Scientist
- William B. Sparks (STScI)
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Technical support
Release date
This page was originally published on Monday, October 10, 2016.
This page was last updated on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 12:33 AM EST.