Questions tagged [europa]
Questions about Europa, a moon of Jupiter with a planet-wide ocean under a thick ice crust.
22
questions
21
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Was Earth closer to Europa on 1983-11-25 or 1985-07-22?
xkcd #2003:
gives a humorous line of succession to the United States presidency. The comic's title text, found by hovering over the comic, states that a tie is broken by whoever was closest to the ...
- 211
18
votes
8
answers
17k
views
Determine the moons of Jupiter through a telescope
I was doing my own "space exploration" last night with a telescope. Being a space noob I can't visually determine stars or planets (I know the moon, though), but I focused on one particularly bright ...
- 323
18
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Is the water underneath Europa's ice cap potable?
I read this question on Worldbuilding.SE, and figured that the astronomy site would have answers too, particularly for the specific example of Europa. The idea is that Earth's oceans are salty because ...
- 283
10
votes
1
answer
683
views
Would Europa be an ocean planet if it were in the habitable zone?
If a Europa-like body were in the Sun's habitable zone, let's say in an orbit between Earth and Mars, would the body become and remain a water ocean planet? In the habitable zone, the Sun would warm ...
- 1,090
9
votes
1
answer
453
views
What evidence is there of Earth-Like internal features of Europa?
This question is inspired by "What are the Earth-like features of Titan?". According to NASA's Europa overview, Europa is believed to have an iron core, rocky mantle and an ocean under the frozen ...
user8
7
votes
1
answer
252
views
Icy moons: why hasn't the ice sublimated away?
Let's take Europa for example:
The predominant model suggests that heat from tidal flexing causes the ocean to remain liquid and drives ice movement similar to plate tectonics.
The heat generated from ...
user1569
6
votes
1
answer
2k
views
What is the underwater temperature of Europa?
If Europa has an oxygen atmosphere with a water mantle, is it possible that there could be life under the crust of Europa ice on the ocean where it is warmer? What could be the temperature under the ...
- 1
5
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How can "Geysers" on Europa reach heights of 100km?
After seeing today's Washington Post's article NASA just saw Europa’s geysers erupting into space. Again., and especially the phrase "geysers erupting into space" I checked and Europa has a surface ...
- 30.7k
5
votes
1
answer
144
views
What are these bumps on Europa?
The surface of Europa is famous for all the criss-cross lines thought to be cracks in the ice above a water ocean that somehow re-freeze.
But in the photo below I also see a lot of raised "bumps&...
- 30.7k
5
votes
1
answer
82
views
How tall are the "fractured" linear structures on Europa's surface?
What are the altitude differences in the high resolution part of this image of Europa?
How high do those ridges rise over their neighboring valleys? And how large is the area shown in this image?
...
- 11.4k
5
votes
0
answers
81
views
What limits can we set about life beneath the ice of Europa?
Do we know enough about the conditions beneath the ice of Europa to say anything about the complexity of life that may live there? Can we rule out macroscopic life?
- 643
4
votes
2
answers
722
views
Is Jupiter's rotation slowing?
According to Wikipedia, re Europa's tidal flexing:
the tidal flexing kneads Europa's interior and gives it a source of
heat, possibly allowing its ocean to stay liquid while driving
subsurface ...
- 143
4
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How does gravity affect pressure under water?
How different would being under water in Europa differ from being under water on Earth? Would it be possible to dive deeper on Europa with a submarine than on Earth and by how much?
- 1
4
votes
2
answers
454
views
Enceladus; why use the words "geysers", "jets", and "plumes" interchangeably?
Background, Europa:
In an earlier question How can “Geysers” on Europa reach heights of 100km? I brought up the use of the word "geyser" in association with the reported confirming observations of ...
- 30.7k
4
votes
1
answer
171
views
The orbital period of Jupiter and Europa billions of years later
We know that the Sun gets so big billions of years later and the Earth will get destroyed.
What will the orbital period of Jupiter (Sun-Jupiter system) and its moon Europa (Jupiter-Europa system) be ...
- 1,005