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Europa
🪐 Solar System•rare
One of Jupiter's largest moons and one of the most promising places to search for extraterrestrial life. Europa has a subsurface ocean beneath its icy crust that may contain more than twice the water of Earth's oceans.
Technical Specifications
Diameter3,122 km
Distance from Jupiter670,900 km
Orbital Period3.55 days
Ocean Depth60-150 km
Ice Shell10-30 km
Surface Temperature-160°C
Fascinating Facts
- 01
Europa may have more water than Earth
- 02
The ice shell is estimated to be 10-30 km thick
- 03
The subsurface ocean is likely 60-150 km deep
- 04
Europa was discovered by Galileo in 1610
- 05
It orbits Jupiter in just 3.5 days
- 06
The surface is one of the smoothest in the solar system
- 07
Plumes of water vapor have been detected
- 08
NASA's Europa Clipper mission will study it up close