Europa (moon)

Europa
	Europa has a white surface
Discovery
Discovered by	Galileo Galilei; Simon Marius
Discovery date	8 January 1610
Designations
Alternative names	Jupiter II
Adjectives	Europan
Orbital characteristics
	Epoch 8 January 2004
Periapsis	664862 km
Apoapsis	676938 km
Mean orbit radius	670900 km
Eccentricity	0.009
Orbital period	3.551181 d
Average orbital speed	13.740 km/s
Inclination	0.470° (to Jupiter's equator); 1.791° (to the ecliptic)
Satellite of	Jupiter
Physical characteristics
Mean radius	1560.8±0.5 km (0.245 Earths)
Surface area	3.09×107 km2 (0.061 Earths)
Volume	1.593×1010 km3 (0.015 Earths)
Mass	(4.799844±0.000013)×1022 kg (0.008 Earths)
Mean density	3.013±0.005 g/cm3
Surface gravity	1.314 m/s2 (0.134 g)
Moment of inertia factor	0.346±0.005 (estimate)
Escape velocity	2.025 km/s
Rotation period	Synchronous
Axial tilt	0.1°
Albedo	0.67 ± 0.03
Apparent magnitude	5.29 (opposition)
Atmosphere
Surface pressure	0.1 µPa (10−12 bar)

Europa is a large moon of the planet Jupiter. It is a little smaller than Earth's Moon and it is the sixth-largest moon in the Solar System.

Europa's diameter is about 3000 kilometers. It probably has an iron core, and a thin atmosphere of mostly oxygen. The surface is icy and very smooth. There are not a lot of craters, but there are some cracks and lines.

Scientists believe that there is a liquid ocean under the surface, and that it is kept warm by tidal heating.^[7] In other words, heat from tidal flexing (Jupiter's strong gravitational pull on Europa) makes it warm. Europa certainly has a lot of water.^[8]

The moon Europa was found by Simon Marius in December 1609. Galileo Galilei first saw the moon in January 1610 (he did not know Marius had found it). Simon Marius was the one who had the idea of the name 'Europa'.

Europa is named after a princess from Greek mythology who became the first queen of Crete.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 "Overview of Europa Facts". NASA. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "JPL HORIZONS solar system data and ephemeris computation service". Solar System Dynamics. NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 Yeomans, Donald K. (13 July 2006). "Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters". JPL Solar System Dynamics. Retrieved 5 November 2007.
↑ Showman, A. P.; Malhotra, R. (1 October 1999). "The Galilean Satellites". Science. 286 (5437): 77–84. doi:10.1126/science.286.5437.77. PMID 10506564.
↑ Bills, Bruce G. (2005). "Free and forced obliquities of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter". Icarus. 175 (1): 233–247. Bibcode:2005Icar..175..233B. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.10.028.
↑ McGrath (2009). "Atmosphere of Europa". In Pappalardo, Robert T.; McKinnon, William B.; Khurana, Krishan K. (eds.). Europa. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-2844-8.
↑ Greenberg, Richard; Europa: the ocean moon: search for an alien biosphere, Springer Praxis Books, 2005
↑ Chang, Kenneth (12 March 2015). "Suddenly, it seems, water is everywhere in Solar System". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 May 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2015. [1]

Notes

↑ Periapsis is derived from the semimajor axis (a) and eccentricity (e): a(1−e).
↑ Apoapsis is derived from the semimajor axis (a) and eccentricity (e): a(1+e).
↑ Surface area derived from the radius (r): 4πr²
↑ Volume derived from the radius (r): ⁴/₃πr³
↑ Surface gravity derived from the mass (m), the gravitational constant (G) and the radius (r): Gm/r²
↑ Escape velocity derived from the mass (m), the gravitational constant (G) and the radius (r): $\textstyle {\sqrt {\frac {2Gm}{r}}}$

Other websites

Europa Archived 2011-05-20 at the Wayback Machine

[factsheet-3] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 "Overview of Europa Facts". NASA. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2007.

[horizons-4] "JPL HORIZONS solar system data and ephemeris computation service". Solar System Dynamics. NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 10 August 2007.

[jplfact-5] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 Yeomans, Donald K. (13 July 2006). "Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters". JPL Solar System Dynamics. Retrieved 5 November 2007.

[Showman1999-9] Showman, A. P.; Malhotra, R. (1 October 1999). "The Galilean Satellites". Science. 286 (5437): 77–84. doi:10.1126/science.286.5437.77. PMID 10506564.

[Bills2005-11] Bills, Bruce G. (2005). "Free and forced obliquities of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter". Icarus. 175 (1): 233–247. Bibcode:2005Icar..175..233B. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.10.028.

[McGrathChapter-12] McGrath (2009). "Atmosphere of Europa". In Pappalardo, Robert T.; McKinnon, William B.; Khurana, Krishan K. (eds.). Europa. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-2844-8.

[greenberg-13] Greenberg, Richard; Europa: the ocean moon: search for an alien biosphere, Springer Praxis Books, 2005

[14] Chang, Kenneth (12 March 2015). "Suddenly, it seems, water is everywhere in Solar System". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 May 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2015. [1]

[1] Periapsis is derived from the semimajor axis (a) and eccentricity (e): a(1−e).

[2] Apoapsis is derived from the semimajor axis (a) and eccentricity (e): a(1+e).

[6] Surface area derived from the radius (r): 4πr²

[7] Volume derived from the radius (r): ⁴/₃πr³

[8] Surface gravity derived from the mass (m), the gravitational constant (G) and the radius (r): Gm/r²

[10] Escape velocity derived from the mass (m), the gravitational constant (G) and the radius (r): $\textstyle {\sqrt {\frac {2Gm}{r}}}$

[2]

[a]

[b]

[1]

[3]

[c]

[d]

[e]

[4]

[f]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

Europa (moon)

References

Other websites

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