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Collection:
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NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Collection
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Collection
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Title:
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Europa's Broken Ice
Title
Europa's Broken Ice
Title
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Original Caption Released with Image:
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Jupiter's moon Europa, as seen in this image taken June 27, 1996 by NASA's Galileo spacecraft, displays features in some areas resembling ice floes seen in Earth's polar seas. Europa, about the size of Earth's moon, has an icy crust that has been severely fractured, as indicated by the dark linear, curved, and wedged-shaped bands seen here. These fractures have broken the crust into plates as large as 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) across. Areas between the plates are filled with material that was probably icy slush contaminated with rocky debris. Some individual plates were separated and rotated into new positions. Europa's density indicates that it has a shell of water ice as thick as 100 kilometers (about 60 miles), parts of which could be liquid. Currently, water ice could extend from the surface down to the rocky interior, but the features seen in this image suggest that motion of the disrupted icy plates was lubricated by soft ice or liquid water below the surface at the time of disruption. This image covers part of the equatorial zone of Europa and was taken from a distance of 156,000 kilometers (about 96,300 miles) by the solid-state imager camera on the Galileo spacecraft. North is to the right and the sun is nearly directly overhead. The area shown is about 360 by 770 kilometers (220-by-475 miles or about the size of Nebraska), and the smallest visible feature is about 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) across. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science.
Original_Caption_Rel eased_with_Image
Jupiter's moon Europa, as seen in this image taken June 27, 1996 by NASA's Galileo spacecraft, displays features in some areas resembling ice floes seen in Earth's polar seas. Europa, about the size of Earth's moon, has an icy crust that has been severely fractured, as indicated by the dark linear, curved, and wedged-shaped bands seen here. These fractures have broken the crust into plates as large as 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) across. Areas between the plates are filled with material that was probably icy slush contaminated with rocky debris. Some individual plates were separated and rotated into new positions. Europa's density indicates that it has a shell of water ice as thick as 100 kilometers (about 60 miles), parts of which could be liquid. Currently, water ice could extend from the surface down to the rocky interior, but the features seen in this image suggest that motion of the disrupted icy plates was lubricated by soft ice or liquid water below the surface at the time of disruption. This image covers part of the equatorial zone of Europa and was taken from a distance of 156,000 kilometers (about 96,300 miles) by the solid-state imager camera on the Galileo spacecraft. North is to the right and the sun is nearly directly overhead. The area shown is about 360 by 770 kilometers (220-by-475 miles or about the size of Nebraska), and the smallest visible feature is about 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) across. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science.
Original Caption Released with Image
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Addition Date:
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1997-09-07
Addition_Date
1997-09-07
Addition Date
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Produced By:
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JPL
Produced_By
JPL
Produced By
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Mission:
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Galileo
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Spacecraft:
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Galileo Orbiter
Spacecraft
Galileo Orbiter
Spacecraft
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Target Name:
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Europa
Target_Name
Europa
Target Name
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Is a satellite of:
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Jupiter
Is_a_satellite_of
Jupiter
Is a satellite of
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Instrument:
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Solid-State Imaging
Instrument
Solid-State Imaging
Instrument
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Product Size:
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968 samples x 452 lines
Product_Size
968 samples x 452 lines
Product Size
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Primary Data Set:
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Galileo EDRs
Primary_Data_Set
Galileo EDRs
Primary Data Set
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Producer ID:
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P47170
MRPS74962
Producer_ID
P47170
MRPS74962
Producer ID
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facet_what:
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Sun
facet_what
Sun
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Moon
facet_what
Moon
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Jupiter
facet_what
Jupiter
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Earth
facet_what
Earth
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Galileo
facet_what
Galileo
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Galileo Orbiter
facet_what
Galileo Orbiter
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Solid-State Imaging
facet_what
Solid-State Imaging
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Polar
facet_what
Polar
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Europa
facet_what
Europa
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Imager
facet_what
Imager
facet_what
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jupiter
facet_where
Jupiter
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Europa
facet_where
Europa
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Nebraska
facet_where
Nebraska
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
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facet_when:
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June 27, 1996
facet_when
June 27, 1996
facet_when
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facet_when_year:
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1996
facet_when_year
1996
facet_when_year
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Image #:
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PIA00291
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UID:
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SPD-PHOTJ-PIA00291
UID
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA00291
UID
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orignial url:
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orignial_url
orignial url
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