What's New :
Mains PYQ Practice Programme. Visit Here

What a new research about Jupiter’s moon Europa means

Published: 2nd May, 2022

Context

A new study found that on one of Jupiter’s moons Europa, a prime candidate for life in the solar system, there might be an abundance of water pockets beneath formations called double ridges.

About

About Europa

  • Size: Europa is slightly smaller than Earth’s moon and its diameter is about one-quarter that of the Earth.
  • Atmosphere: Even though Europa has a very thin oxygen atmosphere, it is considered one of the most promising places in the solar system to find present-day environments that are suitable for life beyond the Earth.
  • Water: It is also believed that underneath Europa’s icy surface the amount of water is twice that on Earth.
    • NASA notes that scientists believe Europa’s ice shell is 15-25 km thick and is floating on an ocean, which is estimated to be between 60-150 km deep.
    • Interestingly, while its diameter is less than the Earth’s, Europa probably contains twice the amount of the water in all of the Earth’s oceans.

NASA’s Europa Clipper

  • NASA is expected to launch its Europa Clipper in 2024.
    • The module will orbit Jupiter and conduct multiple close flybys to Europa to gather data on the moon’s atmosphere, surface and its interior.

Double ridge Feature:

  • Double ridge is the most common type of ridge on Europa: the term “ridge” usually refers to double ridge.
  • A ridge pair with a continuous, V-shaped medial trough whose depth is less than the height of the ridges.
  • They are 100s m wide on average, though in some cases are up to less than 5 km across.
  • Double ridges are the most ubiquitous morphology on Europa and run almost linearly with generally uniform morphological characteristics for up to more than 1,000 km.

Verifying, please be patient.

Enquire Now