Voyager mosaic of Europa. Europa is the third of the 'Galilean' satellites of Jupiter. It is about 1570 km in radius, and orbits Jupiter at a mean dis

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Voyager mosaic of Europa. Europa is the third of the 'Galilean' satellites of Jupiter. It is about 1570 km in radius, and orbits Jupiter at a mean distance of 670,900 km. Little is known about its geological past, but Europa is known to have a crust of water ice at least 50km thick. The dark streaks seen are thought to be faults in the ice at some depth. Bright narrow surface ridges, a few hundred metres high, can also be seen, most clearly near the terminator. The absence of any impact craters larger than about 50km in diameter suggests that the surface seen today is around 100 million years old, considerably younger than the surfaces of the other Galilean moons of Jupiter.

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Size: 4228px × 4228px
Photo credit: © US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 2, astronomy, cosmology, europa, galilean, imagery, jovian, jupiter, moon, planet, planetary, science, voyager