This is an image of the Pwyll crater of Europa taken by the Galileo spacecraft.
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of NASA
Soft Craters on Europa
The surface of Europa shows many signs of that there may be a submerged ocean. For example, this image of the Pwyll crater on Europa looks as if it was formed by something that fell into a slushy layer, rather than a rigid surface.
Other signs of a submerged ocean include:
*
flooded terrain
*
'freckles'
*
rafting, and
*
spreading ridges.
You might also be interested in:
This is an example of terrain of Europa which has been flooded by fresh water which subsequently re-froze on the surface. The edges of the flow are "lobate" meaning rounded like a puddle of water. This
...moreThe surface of Europa shows many signs that there may be an ocean submerged under it's icy surface. For example, in this false color picture, the dimples, shown in red, may be a sign of material falling
...moreThe surface of Europa shows many signs of that there may be a submerged ocean. For example, this picture shows what look like icebergs that may have broken off from a parent block of ice, floated a bit,
...moreThe surface of Europa shows many signs of that there may be an ocean under the surface: * flooded terrain * 'freckles' * rafting * 'mushy' craters, and * spreading centers. Taken together, these pieces
...moreAmalthea was discovered by E Barnard in 1872. Of the 17 moons it is the 3rd closest to Jupiter, with a standoff distance of 181,300 km. Amalthea is about the size of a county or small state, and is just
...moreCallisto was first discovered by Galileo in 1610, making it one of the Galilean Satellites. Of the 60 moons it is the 8th closest to Jupiter, with a standoff distance of 1,070,000 km. It is the 2nd largest
...moreMost of the moons and planets formed by accretion of rocky material and volatiles out of the primitive solar nebula and soon thereafter they differentiated. Measurements by the Galileo spacecraft have
...more