Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2024 March 29
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                              Galileo's Europa
      Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]JPL-Caltech, [5]SETI Institute, Cynthia
                           Phillips, Marty Valenti

   Explanation: Looping through the Jovian system in the late 1990s, the
   [6]Galileo spacecraft recorded stunning views of Europa and uncovered
   evidence that the moon's icy surface likely hides a deep, global ocean.
   Galileo's Europa image data has been [7]remastered here, with improved
   calibrations to produce a color image approximating what the human eye
   might see. Europa's long curving fractures [8]hint at the subsurface
   liquid water. The tidal flexing the large moon experiences in its
   elliptical orbit around Jupiter supplies the energy to keep the ocean
   liquid. But more [9]tantalizing is the possibility that even in the
   absence of sunlight that process could also supply the energy to
   support life, [10]making Europa one of the best places to look for life
   beyond Earth. The Juno spacecraft currently in Jovian orbit has also
   made repeated flybys of the water world, returning images along with
   data exploring [11]Europa's habitability. This October will see the
   launch of the NASA's [12]Europa Clipper on a voyage of [13]exploration.
   The spacecraft will make nearly 50 flybys, approaching to within 25
   kilometers of Europa's icy surface.

                   Tomorrow's picture: Ptolemy's astronomy
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    Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([28]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [29]Specific rights apply.
               [30]NASA Web Privacy, [31]Accessibility Notices
                A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC,
                         [35]NASA Science Activation
                           & [36]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2403/PIA19048europa.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
   5. http://www.seti.org/
   6. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/galileo/
   7. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/?IDNumber=PIA19048
   8. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-scientists-confirm-water-vapor-on-europa
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140919.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160401.html
  11. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/juno/nasas-juno-mission-measures-oxygen-production-at-europa/
  12. https://europa.nasa.gov/
  13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgWbeDNPD6o
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240328.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240329
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240330.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  35. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  36. http://www.mtu.edu/