PIA01503: Europa's Fractured Surface
 Target Name:  Europa
 Is a satellite of:  Jupiter
 Mission:  Voyager
 Spacecraft:  Voyager 2
 Instrument:  VG ISS - Narrow Angle
 Product Size:  790 x 790 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Producer ID:  P21765
 Addition Date:  1999-02-08
 Primary Data Set:  Voyager EDRs
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA01503.tif (384.5 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA01503.jpg (172.2 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 of Europa, smallest of Jupiter's four Galilean satellites, was acquired by Voyager 2 on July 9, 1979, from a range of 241,000 kilometers (150,600 miles). Europa, the brightest of the Galilean satellites, has a density slightly less than Io, suggesting it has a substantial quantity of water. Scientists previously speculated that the water must have cooled from the interior and formed a mantle of ice perhaps 100 kilometers (62 miles) thick. The complex patterns on its surface suggest that the icy surface was fractured, and that the cracks filled with dark material from below. Very few impact craters are visible on the surface, suggesting that active processes on the surface are still modifying Europa. The tectonic pattern seen on its surface differs drastically from the fault systems seen on Ganymede where pieces of the crust have moved relative to each other. On Europa, the crust evidently fractures but the pieces remain in roughly their original position.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL

Image Addition Date:
1999-02-08