This black-and-white image of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa was taken by the Stellar Reference Unit (SRU) instrument on board NASA’s Juno orbiter during a close flyby on September 29, 2022.
This Juno photo of the surface of Europa reveals a curious feature surrounded by a vast network of linear ridges and dark blotches. It was obtained by Juno’s Stellar Reference Unit (SRU) during the spacecraft’s September 29, 2022, flyby of Europa at a distance of about 412 km. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI.
The new image from Juno covers about 150 by 200 km (93 by 125 miles) of Europa’s surface, revealing a region crisscrossed with a network of fine grooves and double ridges.
It was taken at a distance of about 412 km (256 miles) over the icy moon’s darkened hemisphere.
Near the upper right of the image, as well as just to the right and below center, are dark stains possibly linked to something from below erupting onto the surface.
Below center and to the right is a surface feature that recalls a musical quarter note, measuring 67 km (42 miles) north-south by 37 km (23 miles) east-west.
The white dots in the image are signatures of penetrating high-energy particles from the severe radiation environment around the moon.
The image was captured as Juno raced past at about 24 km per second (15 miles per second) over a part of the surface that was in nighttime, dimly lit by Jupiter shine — sunlight reflecting off Jupiter’s cloud tops.
“This image is unlocking an incredible level of detail in a region not previously imaged at such resolution and under such revealing illumination conditions,” said SRU lead co-investigator Dr. Heidi Becker, a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“The team’s use of a star-tracker camera for science is a great example of Juno’s groundbreaking capabilities.”
“These features are so intriguing. Understanding how they formed — and how they connect to Europa’s history — informs us about internal and external processes shaping the icy crust.”
During Juno’s 45th orbit around Jupiter, all of the spacecraft’s science instruments were collecting data both during the Europa flyby and then again as Juno flew over Jupiter’s poles a short 7.5 hours later.
“Juno started out completely focused on Jupiter,” said Juno principal investigator Dr. Scott Bolton, a researcher at the Southwest Research Institute.
“We are really excited that during our extended mission, we expanded our investigation to include three of the four Galilean satellites and Jupiter’s rings.”
“With this flyby of Europa, Juno has now seen close-ups of two of the most interesting moons of Jupiter, and their ice shell crusts look very different from each other.”
“In 2023, Io, the most volcanic body in the Solar System, will join the club.”
