NASA Finds New Evidence of Water Plumes on Jupiter’s Moon Europa

Europa’s ocean is considered to be one of the most promising places that could harbour life in the solar system.

The water plumes on Europa have been spotted using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. (Photo: iStock)

More evidence of possible water plumes erupting from the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa has been spotted using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the US space agency said.

Europa, one of more than 50 moons circling the gas giant, is considered by NASA as a “top candidate” for life elsewhere in the solar system because it is believed to possess a massive, salty, subsurface ocean that is twice the size of that of Earth’s.

The latest observation gives impetus to the possibility that missions to Europa may be able to sample Europa’s ocean without having to drill through miles of ice.

Europa’s ocean is considered to be one of the most promising places that could potentially harbour life in the solar system. These plumes, if they do indeed exist, may provide another way to sample Europa’s subsurface.

Geoff Yoder, Acting Associate Administrator, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate

Using ultraviolet images taken by Hubble, a space telescope that was launched in 1990, the potential plumes are seen around the southern edge of Europa and appear as “dark fingers or patches of possible absorption,” William Sparks, astronomer with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore told reporters on a conference call.

This composite image shows suspected plumes of water vapour erupting at the 7 o’clock position off the limb of Jupiter’s moon Europa. (Photo Courtesy: NASA)

The plumes were spotted on three separate occasions over the course of 15 months in 2014 when scientists observed Europa passing in front of Jupiter. The potential plumes were only observed three out of 10 times when Europa passed by Jupiter, suggesting that the eruptions are intermittent, he said.

They also appeared to emerge near the same places, mostly along Europa’s southern edge, where a previous team of scientists in 2012 – using a different instrument aboard Hubble – detected evidence of water vapour reaching more than 160 kilometres into space.

If plumes exist, this is an exciting finding because it potentially gives easier access to the ocean below.

William Sparks

However, Sparks cautioned that more evidence is needed for scientists to be certain, whether by more Hubble observations, or by some independent observing technique.

I do want to stress that the observations are at the limit of what Hubble can do. We do not claim to have proven the existence of plumes but rather to have contributed evidence that such activity may be present.

NASA announced last year that it intends to send a robotic spacecraft, equipped with a suite of scientific instruments, to circle Europa in the 2020s.

(With inputs from PTI)