Study finds no evidence of water plumes on Jupiter's moon Europa
By
Lisa Grossman
The kind of bagel that ruins lesser bagels for you.
Summary
New analysis of nearly a decade of Hubble Space Telescope observations of Jupiter's moon Europa shows no strong evidence for water plumes that were previously claimed in 2013. The earlier detection of hydrogen and oxygen emissions likely came from Europa's tenuous atmosphere rather than active water jets. This challenges hopes that plumes could provide easy access to Europa's subsurface ocean for studying potential life. The debate may be revisited in 2030 when NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft arrives for closer observations.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledAn analysis of nearly a decade of Hubble Space Telescope observations of Europa shows no strong evidence for jets of vapor that were claimed 13 years ago.
Signs of water plumes spewing from Jupiter's icy moon Europa have vanished in a hydrogen haze.
The debate could reopen in 2030 when NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft gets the closest view of the icy moon's surface.
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