AI Insight
A team of scientists at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) conducted a retrospective analysis of 14 years of data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. Their findings challenge previous claims that Europa intermittently releases water vapor plumes from a suspected subsurface ocean. This reassessment suggests that earlier detections of such plumes may have been misinterpreted or insufficiently supported by the available evidence.
Why it matters
Europa's subsurface ocean is considered one of the most promising candidates for extraterrestrial life in our solar system, and the potential existence of water plumes was seen as a key opportunity to sample that ocean without landing. If plumes are unlikely or absent, future mission strategies to study Europa's habitability may need to be significantly revised.
Looking back at 14 years of Hubble telescope data for Jupiter’s moon Europa has given Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists a better understanding of its tenuous atmosphere. The findings have cast doubt on previous evidence suggesting that the icy moon intermittently discharges faint water plumes from a presumed subsurface ocean.
Source: Findings reconsider the existence of Europa's vapor plumes