Europa's ice thickness and subsurface structure characterized by the Juno microwave radiometer.

ABSTRACT: Jupiter's moon Europa is thought to harbour a saltwater ocean beneath a variously disrupted ice shell, and it is, thus, one of the highest priority astrobiology targets in the Solar System. Estimates of the ice-shell thickness range from 3 km to over 30 km, and observations by the Galileo spacecraft indicated widespread regions of ice disruption (chaotic terrain) leading to speculation that the ice shell may contain subsurface cracks, faults, pores or bubbles. If persistent, subsurface cracks could provide pathways for habitability by facilitating the transport of oxygen and nutrients between the surface and the ocean. Here we report on observations of Europa's subsurface ice shell obtained by the Juno microwave radiometer in 2022. For the idealized case of pure water ice, the data are con

SUBMITTER: Levin SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12827049 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature