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Europa

Jupiter's icy moon with a hidden ocean.

Europa is the smallest of Jupiter's four Galilean moons, slightly smaller than Earth's Moon. It is an icy world with a young surface marked by cracks and streaks and almost no craters, the smoothest known solid surface in the Solar System.

Beneath the ice lies a water ocean kept liquid by tidal heating, which makes Europa a candidate for extraterrestrial life. Hubble has detected possible water vapour plumes.

Quick Facts

Adjectives
  • Europan j
  • ʊ
  • ˈ
  • r
  • oʊ
  • p
  • ən
Named after
Ευρώπη Eurōpē
Discoverer
Galileo Galilei; Simon Marius
Discovered
8 January 1610
Inclination
0.470° (to Jupiter's equator); 1.791° (to the ecliptic)
Satellite of
Jupiter
Moment of inertia factor
0.346, 0.005 (estimate)
Rotation
Synchronous

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