IN PICS: 10 Facts To Know About Jupiter's Icy Moon 'Europa'

Europa's intriguing feature is its extensive salty ocean beneath ice, possibly exceeding Earth's total water. NASA's Galileo revealed evidence through magnetic field measurements indicating a global conductive fluid layer.

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Europa revolves around Jupiter at a distance of approximately 671,000 kilometres and takes 3 and a half Earth days to complete one revolve around Jupiter.

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The red lines on Jupiter's moon Europa are cracks and ridges in the moon's ice crust that are caused by tidal heating, Contaminating minerals and Chaotic terrain.

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Shallow lakes could be found within the ice. These lakes have the potential to release bursts of vapor or cryovolcanic activity, consisting of flowing, slushy ice.

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Europa's surface is adorned with bright water ice and reddish-brown cracks, also called 'bloody red scars', resembling veins, creating the image of an eye.

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Many scientists believe that Europa has a salt-water ocean and rocky seafloor beneath its frozen surface.

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Europa is slightly smaller than Earth's moon, with a diameter of 3,100 kilometers.

NASA

The chemical makeup found in Europa's red streaks is unfamiliar to us as it differs from any known substance on our planet.

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Europa is a promising location for extraterrestrial life, possessing liquid water, essential elements, and energy sources. Its smooth surface shows few craters and features indicative of ice movement driven by tidal forces, resembling Earth's tectonics.

Europa's interior heats from tidal forces due to Jupiter's gravity, causing friction and maintaining its subsurface ocean, preventing it from freezing solid.

NASA's Europa Clipper mission, launching in October 2024 and arriving in 2030, will conduct close flybys of Europa to explore its habitability, analysing its ice shell, ocean, composition, and geology.

NASA