Space Fountains
-
- Written by:
- Kayvon Sharghi
-
- Produced by:
- Katrina Jackson
- View full credits
Europa is one of Jupiter’s largest moons and is covered in a layer of ice that’s miles thick. Beneath this frozen shell lies a hidden ocean thought to contain more water than found on Earth. But there’s more to this moon than what’s going on below the surface. In 2012, scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope first observed what appear to be towering columns of water vapor rising from Europa's icy exterior. Now, recent images taken by Hubble provide further evidence of their existence. On three separate occasions in 2014, Hubble spotted what could be 125-mile-high plumes of water vapor gushing from the Jovian moon. Future observations by Hubble and other NASA missions may provide clues as to how often the plumes occur and why they erupt. Watch the video to learn more.
For More Information
See NASA.gov
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Cover image courtesy of NASA/ESA/STScI/G. Bacon
2014 Hubble image courtesy of NASA/ESA/W. Sparks
2012 Hubble image courtesy of NASA/ESA/L. Roth
Europa interior image courtesy of NASA/JPL
Europa surface image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute
-
Animator
- Greg Bacon (STScI)
-
Writer
- Kayvon Sharghi (USRA) [Lead]
-
Video editor
- Katrina Jackson (USRA)
-
Producer
- Katrina Jackson (USRA) [Lead]
Related pages
-
-
ID: 12585 Produced Video
![Music credit: "Street Dancer" by Donn Wilkerson [BMI] and Lance Sumner [BMI]; Killer Tracks BMI; Killer Tracks Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.](/vis/a010000/a012500/a012585/Hubble_Europa_04-2017_thumbnail.png)
Europa Water Vapor Plumes - More Hubble Evidence
Read moreThe Hubble Space Telescope has captured even more evidence of water vapor plumes on Jupiter's icy moon Europa. The probable plumes appear to be repeating in the same location and correspond with a relatively warm region on Europa's surface observed by the Galileo spacecraft.Read the press release here - https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-missions-provide-new-insights-into-ocean-worlds-in-our-solar-systemView the release images on the HubbleSite here - http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2017-17Read the science paper here - http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aa67f8/pdf ||
-
-
-
ID: 12375 Produced Video
![Web VideoMusic credit: "Next Generation" by Enrico Cacace [BMI]; Atmosphere Music Ltd PRS; Volta Music; Killer Tracks Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.](/vis/a010000/a012300/a012375/Hubble_Europa_thumbnail.png)
Hubble Directly Images Possible Plumes on Europa
Read moreNASA's Hubble Space Telescope took direct ultraviolet images of the icy moon Europa transiting across the disk of Jupiter. Out of ten observations, Hubble saw what may be water vapor plumes on three of the images. This adds another piece of supporting evidence to the existence of water vapor plumes on Europa - Hubble also detected spectroscopic signatures of water vapor in 2012. The existence of water vapor plumes could provide NASA's Europa flyby mission the opportunity to study the conditions and habitability of Europa's subsurface ocean.Read the full nasa.gov story here: http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-hubble-spots-possible-water-plumes-erupting-on-jupiters-moon-europaRead the full science paper here: http://hubblesite.org/pubinfo/pdf/2016/33/pdf.pdfFull details on the images can be found on HubbleSite.org: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2016/33/Additional Resources:JPL's "Europa: Tempting Target for Future Exploration" video file is downloadable here: https://vimeo.com/118505538Read the Dec 2013 press release about Hubble's previous observations of Europa here: http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-europa-water-vapor ||
-