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Europa / jʊˈroʊpə / ⓘ, or Jupiter II, is the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, and the sixth-closest to the planet of all the 95 known moons of Jupiter. It is also the sixth-largest moon in the Solar System.
Europa is the fourth largest of Jupiter’s 95 moons. It's the sixth-closest moon to the planet. Europa may be one of the most promising places in our solar system to find present-day environments suitable for some form of life beyond Earth.
The puzzling, fascinating surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa looms large in this view made from images taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Galileo's primary mission included observations of each of the four Galilean moons during repeated flybys.
Jul 9, 2024 · Jupiter’s moon Europa is one of those places. It is a long way from the Sun—more than five times farther than the distance between Earth and the Sun. It is so cold on Europa that water on the surface of the moon is frozen as hard as rock. We can usually crack our Earth's winter ice with an ice pick.
Jun 8, 2021 · Jupiter’s icy moon Europa may be the most promising place in the solar system to find present-day environments suitable for life beyond Earth. Scientists study the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe in a scientific field called astrobiology.
Overview. When Galileo Galilei discovered Europa and Jupiter’s three other large moons — Io, Ganymede and Callisto — more than 400 years ago, he revolutionized humanity’s view of the universe. The discovery disproved the common belief that Earth was the center of all motion in the heavens.
Earth’s first mission to conduct detailed reconnaissance of Jupiter’s moon, Europa. NASA’s Europa Clipper will determine if this ocean world has environments suitable for life to exist.
NASA's Europa Clipper is launching Oct. 10, 2024, on the first mission to conduct a detailed science investigation of Europa. Six robotic spacecraft already have explored Europa, and scientists do regular checkups on the moon with the powerful Hubble Space Telescope.
Sep 29, 2022 · Europa is the sixth-largest moon in the solar system, slightly smaller than Earth’s moon. Scientists think a salty ocean lies below a miles-thick ice shell, sparking questions about potential conditions capable of supporting life underneath Europa’s surface.
May 3, 2023 · Europa is an icy moon of Jupiter and one of the four so-called Galilean moons of Jupiter. See more facts about Europa and its history here.
