Suggested Searches

 

1 min read

Water Vapor Plumes Over Europa

Water Vapor Plumes Over Europa
This graphic shows the location of water vapor detected over Europa's south pole that provides the first strong evidence of water plumes erupting off Europa's surface, in observations taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in December 2012. Hubble didn't photograph plumes, but spectroscopically detected auroral emissions from oxygen and hydrogen. The aurora is powered by Jupiter's magnetic field. This is only the second moon in the solar system found ejecting water vapor from the frigid surface. The image of Europa is derived from a global surface map generated from combined NASA Voyager and Galileo space probe observations.

About the Object

  • Distance
    DistanceThe 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 mean radius of Europa's orbit about Jupiter is 670,900 kilometers (416,900 miles).
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    Neptune has a mean diameter of 3,122 kilometers (1,940 miles).

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data 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.
    This image was created from HST data from proposal 13040: J. Saur (University of Cologne, Germany), L. Roth (Southwest Research Institute/University of Cologne, Germany), P. Feldman and D. Strobel (JHU), K. Retherford (Southwest Research Institute), M. McGrath (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center), and F. Nimmo (University of California, Santa Cruz).
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>STIS
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    November and December, 2012
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    Grating: G140L
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Europa
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Jovian Moon
  • Release Date
    December 12, 2013
  • Science Release
    Hubble Space Telescope Sees Evidence of Water Vapor Venting off Jovian Moon
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Illustration Credit: NASA, ESA, and L. Roth (Southwest Research Institute and University of Cologne, Germany)

Downloads

  • PDF
    (4.77 MB)
  • 2400 × 2378
    (477.2 KB)
  • 200 × 200
    (18.09 KB)
  • 400 × 396
    (45.85 KB)
  • 1200 × 1189
    (191.39 KB)

Related Images & Videos

Artist's Concept of Europa Water Vapor Plume

Artist's Concept of Europa Water Vapor Plume

This is an artist's concept of a plume of water vapor thought to be ejected off of the frigid, icy surface of the Jovian moon Europa, located 500 million miles from the Sun. Hubble Space Telescope spectroscopic measurements lead scientists to calculate that the plume rises to an...

Share

Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Related Terms

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Hubble Science Highlights

Hubble Images

Hubble News