{"id":36967,"date":"2022-10-06T08:56:25","date_gmt":"2022-10-06T08:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=112550"},"modified":"2022-10-06T09:08:10","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T09:08:10","slug":"nasas-juno-spacecraft-captures-close-view-of-jupiters-icy-moon-europa","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/nasas-juno-spacecraft-captures-close-view-of-jupiters-icy-moon-europa\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft captures close view of Jupiter\u2019s icy moon Europa"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Iain Todd\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 06 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

An incredible image of Jupiter\u2019s icy moon Europa has been captured by NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft<\/a> during a close flyby.<\/p>\n

The image is the highest-resolution image the Juno probe has ever taken of a specific portion of the icy moon.<\/p>\n

It was captured using Juno\u2019s Stellar Reference Unit (SRU) during the spacecraft\u2019s flyby of Europa on 29 September 2022.<\/p>\n

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A close-up view of Jupiter\u2019s Moon Europa captured during the Juno spacecraft\u2019s flyby on 29 September 2022. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SwRI<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The new Europa image covers an area of about 150km x 200km on the surface of the moon and shows incredible streaks and grooves, along with features called double ridges, which are pairs of lines running parallel to one another.<\/p>\n

These double ridges are raised features in the icy crust of the Jovian moon.<\/p>\n

At the top right of the image can be seen dark patches, and NASA says these could be a sign of material erupting from below the surface.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Europa is thought to have an subsurface ocean beneath its frozen crust, making it one of the prime places in the Solar System to search for signs of habitable conditions, or even life itself.<\/p>\n

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Two views of moon Europa captured by NASA\u2019s Galileo spacecraft in June 1997. Credit: NASA, NASA-JPL, University of Arizona<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Also visible in the image are tiny white speckles spread across the field of view.<\/p>\n

These are signs of high energy particles generated by extreme radiation surrounding Europa.<\/p>\n

This latest image is part of a ream of data captured by Juno as it flew by Europa at a distance of just 412km on 29 September, travelling at a speed of 24km per second.<\/p>\n

It was captured during nighttime on that particular part of Europa, but the whole scene is lit by sunlight reflecting off Jupiter\u2019s cloudtops \u2013 an effect known as \u2018Jupiter shine\u2019.<\/p>\n

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A view of the Great Red Spot and a massive storm called Oval BA in Jupiter\u2019s atmosphere, as seen by the Juno spacecraft. Credit: Enhanced Image by Gerald Eichst\u00e4dt and Sean Doran (CC BY-NC-SA) based on images provided Courtesy of NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SwRI\/MSSS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cThis image is unlocking an incredible level of detail in a region not previously imaged at such resolution and under such revealing illumination conditions,\u201d says Heidi Becker, the lead co-investigator for the SRU.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team\u2019s use of a star-tracker camera for science is a great example of Juno\u2019s groundbreaking capabilities. These features are so intriguing. Understanding how they formed \u2013 and how they connect to Europa\u2019s history \u2013 informs us about internal and external processes shaping the icy crust.\u201d<\/p>\n

This latest image follows another image of Europa captured during the flyby, which was released by NASA on 29 September 2022.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A wide view of Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa, captured by the Juno spacecraft during a flyby on 29 September 2022. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SWRI\/MSSS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

That image shows a wider view of Europa and was captured from a distance of 352km. One particular feature of note is the oblong crater near the moon\u2019s terminator \u2013 the dividing line between day and night.<\/p>\n

This may have been caused by an impact.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Juno mission launched on 5 August 2011 and arrived at Jupiter on 4 July 2016.<\/p>\n

Since then it has been sending back amazing images of the worlds of the Jovian system, including Jupiter itself and features such as the enormous, raging storm known as the Great Red Spot.<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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By Iain Todd Published: Thursday, 06 October 2022 at 12:00 am An incredible image of Jupiter\u2019s icy moon Europa has been captured by NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft during a close flyby. The image is the highest-resolution image the Juno probe has ever taken of a specific portion of the icy moon. It was captured using Juno\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":36968,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/10\/nasas-juno-spacecraft-captures-close-view-of-jupiters-icy-moon-europa.jpg",1041,1041,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/10\/nasas-juno-spacecraft-captures-close-view-of-jupiters-icy-moon-europa-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/10\/nasas-juno-spacecraft-captures-close-view-of-jupiters-icy-moon-europa-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/10\/nasas-juno-spacecraft-captures-close-view-of-jupiters-icy-moon-europa-768x768.jpg",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/10\/nasas-juno-spacecraft-captures-close-view-of-jupiters-icy-moon-europa-1024x1024.jpg",800,800,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/10\/nasas-juno-spacecraft-captures-close-view-of-jupiters-icy-moon-europa.jpg",1041,1041,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/10\/nasas-juno-spacecraft-captures-close-view-of-jupiters-icy-moon-europa.jpg",1041,1041,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Iain Todd Published: Thursday, 06 October 2022 at 12:00 am An incredible image of Jupiter\u2019s icy moon Europa has been captured by NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft during a close flyby. The image is the highest-resolution image the Juno probe has ever taken of a specific portion of the icy moon. It was captured using Juno\u2019s…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/36967"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}