{"id":19232,"date":"2016-09-26T22:14:45","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T14:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/hubble-readings-firm-up-evidence-for-plumes-of-water-at-jupiters-moon-europa\/"},"modified":"2016-09-26T22:14:45","modified_gmt":"2016-09-26T14:14:45","slug":"hubble-readings-firm-up-evidence-for-plumes-of-water-at-jupiters-moon-europa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/hubble-readings-firm-up-evidence-for-plumes-of-water-at-jupiters-moon-europa\/","title":{"rendered":"Hubble readings firm up evidence for plumes of water at Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_277887\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-277887\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-277887\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/160926-europa-plumes-630x630.jpg\" alt=\"Europa and plumes\" width=\"630\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/160926-europa-plumes-630x630.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/160926-europa-plumes-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/160926-europa-plumes-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/160926-europa-plumes-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/160926-europa-plumes.jpg 985w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-277887\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This composite image shows suspected plumes of water vapor erupting at the 7 o\u2019clock position off the limb of Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa. The Hubble data were taken on Jan. 26, 2014. The image of Europa, superimposed on the Hubble data, is assembled from data from the Galileo and Voyager missions. (Credit: W. Sparks \/ STScI \/ NASA \/ ESA \/ USGS Astrogeology Science Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s not aliens. And it\u2019s not exactly surprising, despite NASA\u2019s advance billing. But new evidence of water plumes emanating from Europa, an ice-covered moon of Jupiter, have added to the excitement over a proposed&nbsp;mission that could sample the water for signs of life.<\/p>\n<p>The evidence comes in the form of splotchy ultraviolet images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, operating at the limits of its sensitivity. Scientists say the images appear to show intermittent emissions&nbsp;of water vapor near Europa\u2019s south pole.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf plumes exist, this is an exciting finding,\u201d William Sparks, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, told reporters today during a teleconference.<\/p>\n<p>Sparks is the principal author&nbsp;of a paper describing the observations&nbsp;that will&nbsp;appear in&nbsp;the Astrophysical Journal.&nbsp;The ultraviolet readings were taken in 2014 by Hubble\u2019s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, or STIS.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Hubble Directly Images Possible Plumes on Europa\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4QJS9LcB66g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Three years ago, a different team of researchers said spectrographic readings from STIS pointed to towering&nbsp;water plumes at Europa, but they weren\u2019t able to confirm&nbsp;those observations. A study based on data from the Cassini mission&nbsp;turned up no evidence of the plumes, raising doubts.<\/p>\n<p>Sparks and his colleagues tried a different method. They had Hubble look at Europa while it was passing across the disk of Jupiter, which reflects an even glow of ultraviolet light from the sun. Then they painstakingly analyzed millions of readings to find spots along Europa\u2019s edge where the light was apparently filtered through the plumes of water vapor.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that two different methods pointed to water plumes strengthens scientists\u2019 confidence that the phenomenon is real and not just a quirk in the data. However, Sparks emphasized that still more data would be needed to nail down the hypothesis. NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope, a successor to Hubble that\u2019s due for launch in 2018, could deliver the goods.<\/p>\n<p>Sparks&nbsp;also said the evidence&nbsp;suggests that the water isn\u2019t always there. Only three of Hubble\u2019s 10 readings showed evidence of plumes. \u201cIf they\u2019re real, they have to be intermittent,\u201d he&nbsp;said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_277883\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-277883\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-277883\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/160926-europa-plumes-2-630x210.png\" alt=\"Europa images\" width=\"630\" height=\"210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/160926-europa-plumes-2-630x210.png 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/160926-europa-plumes-2-768x256.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/160926-europa-plumes-2-1240x413.png 1240w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/160926-europa-plumes-2.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-277883\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Three ultraviolet images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope appear to show signs of plumes near Europa\u2019s south pole. Seven others didn\u2019t. In these pictures, a visible-light image of Europa has been added as a visual aid. (Credit: W. Sparks \/ STScI \/ NASA \/ ESA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sparks estimated that the plumes should contain a few million kilograms of water, and rise about 125 miles&nbsp;above Europa\u2019s surface. That would put them in a league with the more obvious water plumes that have been seen emanating from Enceladus, an ice-covered moon of Saturn.<\/p>\n<p>Like Enceladus, Europa is thought to have a deep water ocean beneath its ice, potentially heated by tidal stresses and strains in its rocky core. The presence of liquid water would make Europa and Enceladus prime candidates for missions to gauge their potential habitability.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that the moons are covered with ice poses a challenge: How do you get to the water? Now scientists are more confident that a proposed&nbsp;Europa mission could analyze&nbsp;the plumes during repeated flybys, including close flybys that would let the probe \u201ctaste\u201d the water as it passed through.<\/p>\n<p>A&nbsp;mission that\u2019s already on the books for launch in the 2020s could make such observations, said Curt Niebur, Europa mission program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Alien Ocean: NASA\u2019s Mission to Europa\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GqTaDCt_F1Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Niebur emphasized that the Europa spacecraft would not be built specifically to detect the presence of life. \u201cWe know how to measure habitability. \u2026&nbsp;When it comes to finding life, we don\u2019t have as much experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>And even if microbes (or freeze-dried fish) were to spew up from beneath the surface, the Jupiter system\u2019s radiation environment and the cold vacuum of space would kill them off, Sparks said. \u201cWe\u2019d have to look for the remains of something that was once protected in the ice, or by the ice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Before today\u2019s briefing, NASA said the scientists would be sharing \u201csurprising evidence\u201d of activity that may be related to Europa\u2019s ocean&nbsp;\u2013 while making clear that they wouldn\u2019t be reporting the discovery of alien life.<\/p>\n<p>NASA spokesman Steve Cole jokingly referred to the alien angle at the top of the briefing. \u201cSpoiler alert: Despite what some media have reported recently, this finding has nothing to do with detecting life on Europa,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>The scientists distanced themselves even more from the hype. Sparks told GeekWire&nbsp;he was \u201cneutral\u201d on the question of whether the findings were surprising. Britney Schmidt, a planetary scientist at Georgia Tech who has been studying Europa for years, struck a similarly circumspect&nbsp;tone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI usually say to people, I\u2019m not surprised,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cI\u2019m excited, and skeptical.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This composite image shows suspected plumes of water vapor erupting at the 7 o\u2019clock position off the limb of Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa. The Hubble data were taken on Jan. 26, 2014. The image of Europa, superimposed on the Hubble data, is assembled from data from the Galileo and Voyager missions. (Credit: W. Sparks \/ STScI [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1874,1659,898],"class_list":["post-19232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-astrobiology","tag-europa","tag-hubble-space-telescope"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19232\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}