NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured a new image of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa using its Stellar Reference Unit (SRU). Scientists analyzed the data and found possible signs of plume activity as well as an area of ice shell disruption where brine may have recently bubbled to the surface.
After imaging Europa’s equator, the JunoCam team found ice blocks, walls, scarps, ridges, and troughs, as well as irregularly distributed steep-walled depressions 12 to 31 miles wide. These appear as large ovoid pits previously found in images from other locations of Europa. The team is still waiting for confirmation on the giant ocean purported to reside below Europa’s icy exterior. The surface features seen in this image have been associated with “true polar wander,” which refers to a theory that Europa’s outer ice shell is basically free-floating and moves.
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True polar wander occurs if Europa’s icy shell is decoupled from its rocky interior, resulting in high stress levels on the shell, which lead to predictable fracture patterns. This is the first time that these fracture patterns have been mapped in the southern hemisphere, suggesting that true polar wander’s effect on Europa’s surface geology is more extensive than previously identified,” said Candy Hansen, a Juno co-investigator who leads planning for JunoCam.
