New research reveals an unexpected effect that currents from Europa’s subterranean ocean could be having on the rotation of a part of this moon.
For some years now, there has been a belief that Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, has a huge internal ocean under its icy outer crust. That sea of salt water seems to be revolving around the rocky interior of the star.
It has also been suspected that the outer ice crust is free-floating, spinning at a different speed than the ocean below and the rocky interior.
The new study provides an explanation for how the outer crust of ice could rotate at a different rate than what lies below.
The study’s computer simulations using digital models suggest that subterranean seawater could be pushing on the outer ice crust, speeding up and slowing down its rotation over time.
This modeling work is the first to show that ocean currents off Europa could be influencing the rotation of its outer ice crust.
Europa. (Imagen: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
“For me, it was completely unexpected that what happens in the ocean circulation could be enough to affect the outer ice crust. It was a big surprise,” says Robert Pappalardo of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). United States, a co-author of the new study and a member of the science team for NASA’s future Europa Clipper mission.
The Europa Clipper space probe, currently undergoing assembly, testing, and other preparations at JPL, is scheduled for launch in 2024. If all goes as planned, the spacecraft will begin orbiting Jupiter in 2030 and will use a suite of sophisticated instruments to collect scientific data while passing close to Europa about 50 times. The objective of the mission is to determine if the great internal ocean of that moon meets the right conditions for life. (Fountain: NCYT de Amazings)