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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Galileo's Europa
APOD.NASA.gov ^ | 15 Jan, 2022 | Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SETI Institute, Cynthia Phillips, Marty Valenti

Posted on 01/15/2022 1:42:48 PM PST by MtnClimber

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

Explanation: Looping through the Jovian system in the late 1990s, the Galileo spacecraft recorded stunning views of Europa and uncovered evidence that the moon's icy surface likely hides a deep, global ocean. Galileo's Europa image data has been remastered here, with improved calibrations to produce a color image approximating what the human eye might see. Europa's long curving fractures hint at the subsurface liquid water. The tidal flexing the large moon experiences in its elliptical orbit around Jupiter supplies the energy to keep the ocean liquid. But more tantalizing is the possibility that even in the absence of sunlight that process could also supply the energy to support life, making Europa one of the best places to look for life beyond Earth. What kind of life could thrive in a deep, dark, subsurface ocean? Consider planet Earth's own extreme shrimp.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: nasa
To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 01/15/2022 1:42:48 PM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 01/15/2022 1:43:05 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; abb; AFB-XYZ; America_Right; AZ .44 MAG; BBB333; ...
Pinging the APOD list.

πŸͺ 🌟 🌌 πŸ”


3 posted on 01/15/2022 1:43:41 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

If extraterrestrial life ends up looking like a shrimp then I’m getting a new barbecue grill.


4 posted on 01/15/2022 1:56:51 PM PST by Track9 (Agamemnon came home to a HRC type party. )
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To: MtnClimber
... making Europa one of the best places to look for life beyond Earth.

β€œAll these worlds are yours. Except Europa. Attempt no landing there.”

5 posted on 01/15/2022 1:59:35 PM PST by ETCM
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To: MtnClimber

Must be winter.


6 posted on 01/15/2022 1:59:58 PM PST by DannyTN
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To: DannyTN

Wait until the Global Warming hits. It will be all palm trees and surfers.


7 posted on 01/15/2022 2:05:40 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Looks like a root ball.


8 posted on 01/15/2022 2:08:03 PM PST by NautiNurse (Who will portray Alec Baldwin in the SNL skit? )
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To: MtnClimber

We need to go there and start burning fossil fuels. Let’s turn that place into paradise!!!


9 posted on 01/15/2022 2:09:46 PM PST by DannyTN
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To: NautiNurse

It does look like a root ball. I’ve heard that white fungus is a good thing.


10 posted on 01/15/2022 2:12:46 PM PST by DannyTN
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To: All

fake!! I don’t see the monolith in place.


11 posted on 01/15/2022 3:04:16 PM PST by BipolarBob (BipolarBob's your uncle.)
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To: DannyTN
We need to go there and start burning fossil fuels. Let’s turn that place into paradise!!!

It will warm up from the flaming Earth.

12 posted on 01/15/2022 3:48:44 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber
Is Europa populated with dung beetles?


13 posted on 01/15/2022 4:23:41 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (81 million votes...and NOT ONE "Build Back Better" hat)
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To: DannyTN
Must be winter.

With an average surface temp of -260F at the equator, and -370F at the poles, Europa is one heck of a bun freezer.

14 posted on 01/15/2022 4:44:56 PM PST by JPG (You can't unjab the jab.)
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