Hubble discovers evidence of water geysers on Jupiter’s moon Europa
NASAs Hubble space telescope has detected water geysers on Jupiter's moon Europa, the first liquid geysers was discovered on Enceladus (Saturn's sixth largest moon) in 2005 by the Cassini spacecraft. The Hubble telescope discovered strong evidence of water vapor erupting from the surface of the Europa.
Europa consists of an icy crust and earlier discoveries led to a conclusion of an ocean located under the icy crust. According to the MarketWatch there is a confident explanation for the discovery, this would make Europa the second moon in the solar system known to have water geysers.
This is not the first time astronomers have discovered signs of geyser activity on Europa, as stated by ars Technica the first evidence was in late 2012. The evidence leads to a possibility to fly a spacecraft through these water geysers to study the ocean and search for any organic material.
The Hubble space telescope used ultraviolet observations during a travel of Europa across the face of Jupiter. The appearance of liquid water erupting from the moon's surface was detectable due to the bright backdrop of Jupiter. However, there is only strong evidence that these plumes could be real but they do not claim to have proven existence.
The intensity of Europa's plumes also varies with its orbital position as there were no signs of these plumes erupting when Europa is closer to Jupiter. It is said to be that these plumes could be difficult to observe in the visible light, they could be called as stealth plumes. The Hubble team stated to have pushed the telescope to its limits for this evidence.
The international corporation between NASA and the European Space Agency has led out the Hubble space telescope. The discovered evidence will help in a new mission to launch a spacecraft targeting Europa. This mission could be launched in the near future. The effort and risk taken to upgrade and repair the Hubble has definitely been worthwhile.
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