Transient Water Vapor at Europa’s South Pole

Europa's Plumes Jupiter's moon Europa has a subsurface ocean and a relatively young icy surface. Roth et al. (p. 171 , published online 12 December 2013; see the Perspective by Spencer ) analyzed spectral images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope that show ultraviolet emissions from the m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Roth, Lorenz, Saur, Joachim, Retherford, Kurt D., Strobel, Darrell F., Feldman, Paul D., McGrath, Melissa A., Nimmo, Francis
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2014
Subjects:
South pole
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1247051
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1247051
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Summary:Europa's Plumes Jupiter's moon Europa has a subsurface ocean and a relatively young icy surface. Roth et al. (p. 171 , published online 12 December 2013; see the Perspective by Spencer ) analyzed spectral images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope that show ultraviolet emissions from the moon's atmosphere, and report a statistically significant emission signal extending above the satellite's southern hemisphere. This emission is consistent with two 200-km-high plumes of water vapor. Tidal stresses likely play a role in opening and closing fractures at the surface.

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