PIA17658: Clay Prints on Europa
 Target Name:  Europa
 Is a satellite of:  Jupiter
 Mission:  Galileo
 Spacecraft:  Galileo Orbiter
 Instrument:  Near Infra-Red Mapping Spectrometer 
 Product Size:  1601 x 800 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Primary Data Set:  Galileo EDRs
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA17658.tif (3.844 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA17658.jpg (97.92 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

This image, using data from NASA's Galileo mission, shows the first detection of clay-like minerals on the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. The clay-like minerals appear in blue in the false-color patch of data from Galileo's Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer. Surfaces richer in water ice appear in red. The background image is a mosaic of images from Galileo's Solid State Imaging system in the colors that human eyes would see.

Scientists think an asteroid or comet impact could have delivered the clay-type minerals to Europa because these minerals are commonly found in these primitive celestial bodies. These kinds of asteroids and comets also typically carry organic compounds.

A version of the image without the infrared area is on the right.

For more information about Europa, visit: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/europa/home.cfm .

JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Image Addition Date:
2013-12-11