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Europa Transiting Geometry
About the Object
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.The position of Jupiter and Europa changes as they and Earth travel on their orbits through the solar system. Europa, orbiting Jupiter, was approximately 4.3 AU (400 million miles or 640 million kilometers) from Earth at the time of these observations.
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.Europa
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Moon of Jupiter
- Release DateSeptember 26, 2016
- Science ReleaseHubble Spots Possible Water Plumes Erupting on Jupiter’s Moon Europa
- Credits
Related Images & Videos
Photo Composite of Suspected Water Plumes on Europa
This composite image shows suspected plumes of water vapor erupting at the 7 o'clock position off the limb of Jupiter's moon Europa. The plumes, photographed by NASA's Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, were seen in silhouette as the moon passed in front of Jupiter....
Photo Composite of Suspected Water Plumes on Europa (Annotated)
This composite image includes data from Hubble’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, which shows suspected plumes of water vapor erupting at the 7 o'clock position off the limb of Jupiter's moon Europa. The image of Europa, superimposed on the Hubble data, is assembled from...
Artist's View of Plumes on Europa
This is an artist's concept of the moon Europa, at right, with water-ice plumes erupting from its lower left limb at the 7 o'clock position. In the background, to the left, is Jupiter's orange, volcanic moon Io, and to the left of Io is Jupiter. Io's shadow appears in the center...
Europa Transiting Jupiter
This video is a time-lapse sequence of Hubble Space Telescope images of the moon Europa as it moved across the face of Jupiter over the course of 19 minutes. Europa is at the bottom center on Jupiter's disk, with the Great Red Spot to the left and Europa's shadow to its right....
Hubble Directly Images Possible Plumes on Europa
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took direct ultraviolet images of the icy moon Europa transiting across the disk of Jupiter. Out of ten observations, Hubble saw what may be water vapor plumes on three of the images. This adds another piece of supporting evidence to the existence...
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
