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This image shows two views of the trailing hemisphere (it is always opposite the direction of motion) of Jupiter’s moon Europa, the second Galilean satellite moving outward from Jupiter. The view on the left is an approximate natural color view of Europa, taken by the Galileo spacecraft on September 7, 1996. The view on the right is the same image but with colors enhanced by computer to highlight subtle variations on the icy surface. Europa is about the same size as Io and Earth’s Moon, with a water-ice surface crisscrossed by numerous dark fractures and a prominent impact crater at lower right. The brown regions near the center of the images may include rock and mud mixed with the ice. Galileo obtained many high-resolution images of Europa that show that fracturing has occurred on many scales and intensities. Galileo Press Release P-48040. Right click here to download a high-resolution version of the image (4.51) |
