                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2022 October 3

                    Jupiter's Europa from Spacecraft Juno
     Image Credit & License: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SwRI, MSSS; Processing:
                                 Andrea Luck

   Explanation: What mysteries might be solved by peering into this
   crystal ball? In this case, the ball is actually a moon of Jupiter, the
   crystals are ice, and the moon is not only dirty but cracked beyond
   repair. Nevertheless, speculation is rampant that oceans exist under
   Europa's fractured ice-plains that could support life. Europa, roughly
   the size of Earth's Moon, is pictured here in an image taken a few days
   ago when the Jupiter-orbiting robotic spacecraft Juno passed within 325
   kilometers of its streaked and shifting surface. Underground oceans are
   thought likely because Europa undergoes global flexing due to its
   changing gravitational attraction with Jupiter during its slightly
   elliptical orbit, and this flexing heats the interior. Studying Juno's
   close-up images may further humanity's understanding not only of Europa
   and the early Solar System but also of the possibility that life exists
   elsewhere in the universe.

                        Tomorrow's picture: big eagle
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

