Europa’s ice crust spins faster than its core: scientists find what’s loosening the moon

Scientists believe that beneath the icy crust of Jupiter’s moon Europa lies an ocean of saltwater that circulates in this world’s rocky interior. Scientists believe the movement of water could cause Europa’s crust to spin faster or slower over time. That is, the movement speed is different from the rotation speed of the interior of the satellite. The results of this study are published on the NASA website.

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Scientists believe Europa’s ice crust is spinning at a different rate than the moon’s subterranean ocean and rocky bowels. As the new simulations show, this is most likely influenced by the movement of water in the ocean, namely ocean currents. Scientists also believe that these currents influence the formation of the appearance of the ice crust of Jupiter’s moon. Due to the movement of the surface under the influence of internal forces of water, faults and hills appear on it.

For decades, scientists have disagreed on whether Europa’s icy crust can move faster through Jupiter’s moon. The researchers believed that if so, then most likely the faster spin of the surface was due to the gravitational effect of the gas giant. No one suggested that it might be related to the subterranean ocean.

“We believe that currents arise in the European subterranean ocean due to changes in temperature. We show for the first time a link between the movement of water and the rotation of Europa’s ice crust,” says Hamish Hay. Oxford University, UK.

The new simulation data came as a real surprise to scientists, according to Robert Pappalardo of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

To create a simulation of what’s going on in Europa’s ocean, Hay said scientists are using techniques to study Earth’s oceans. This data was uploaded to a NASA supercomputer, thanks to which the researchers achieved such results.

The scientists concluded that the water in the subterranean ocean was warmed by heat from Europa’s core, and then that warm water rose to the top of the ocean. These currents first move vertically and then start to move horizontally due to the general rotation of Europa. As the simulations show, these currents have sufficient velocity to speed up or slow down the rotation of the ice crust over time.

Scientists say the Europa Clipper spacecraft can determine how fast Europa’s ice crust is spinning and how different its speed is from what’s inside. It is scheduled to be sent into space in 2024 and should orbit Jupiter by 2030, followed by 50 flybys of Europe.

Scientists plan to compare images of the surface of Jupiter’s moon, which the new spacecraft will take, with images from previous missions. In this way, it will be possible to learn how the satellite’s surface has changed over time, and how the position of Europa’s ice crust has changed thanks to the position of the geological features.

The Europa Clipper’s main task will be to understand exactly what the icy moon’s surface is made of, the composition of its ocean, and scientists will be able to get information about whether there are conditions suitable for emergence and development in this ocean. Your life.

Focus I already wrote that the Juno spacecraft recently made some of the best images of Io, another moon of Jupiter and covered with volcanoes.

Moreover Focus He wrote that astronomers have found a super-Earth that has turned into a watery world. A new study suggests an unusual transformation process is taking place on the planet.