Galileo finds evidence of a watery Europa.First Mars, now Europa? Alas, unlike last week's report about the Red Planet, a new study doesn't directly tackle the question of whether life might have existed on this icy Jovian satellite. Scientists are intrigued, however, by new images that provide the clearest indications to date that Europa may have had-and might still have-a watery interior. Water is required for life as we know it Life As We Know It is an American television drama on the ABC network during the 2004-2005 season. It was created by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah. The series was based on the novel Doing It by British writer Melvin Burgess. . "These fantastic new images . . . are reminiscent of the ice-covered Arctic Ocean Arctic Ocean, the smallest ocean, c.5,400,000 sq mi (13,986,000 sq km), located entirely within the Arctic Circle and occupying the region around the North Pole. on our planet," says NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. Administrator Daniel S. Goldin. "[They raise] the possibility of a liquid ocean on Europa, the only other place in our solar system where we suspect such an ocean might exist." Taken by the Galileo spacecraft on June 27, the pictures show two lines of evidence suggesting an ocean of water or slushy slush·y adj. slush·i·er, slush·i·est 1. Consisting of, covered with, or full of slush. 2. Resembling slush, as in consistency. 3. Revoltingly sentimental; maudlin. See Synonyms at sentimental. ice beneath Europa's surface, notes Galileo scientist Ronald Greeley of Arizona State University Arizona State University, at Tempe; coeducational; opened 1886 as a normal school, became 1925 Tempe State Teachers College, renamed 1945 Arizona State College at Tempe. Its present name was adopted in 1958. in Tempe. Some of the images, presented at a NASA briefing this week, reexamine re·ex·am·ine also re-ex·am·ine tr.v. re·ex·am·ined, re·ex·am·in·ing, re·ex·am·ines 1. To examine again or anew; review. 2. Law To question (a witness) again after cross-examination. at slightly higher resolution regions viewed by the Voyager spacecraft 17 years ago (SN: 7/6/96, p. 8). The new pictures confirm that fractures have divided several areas of Europa's icy crust into plates resembling terrestrial ice floes. Moreover, these plates "look as though they have been pulled apart and in some cases rotated into new positions," as if they had floated on water or warm ice when they formed, says Greeley. The Voyager images, which could reveal only plates more than 20 kilometers in diameter, suggested that Europa's icy crust was at least 10 km thick when the plates formed. Galileo discerns plates half as large, indicating a thinner crust, with water or warm ice just a few kilometers beneath the surface. Researchers don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. whether liquid water still exists on Europa, because they aren't sure when the plates formed and rotated, says Greeley. The surface, he notes, isn't heavily peppered with craters, indicating that the region may be relatively young and that water was present recently. The first close-up images of Europa, scheduled for December, may help to date the surface. Galileo also eyed Belus Linea, a banded structure consisting of two dark stripes flanking a bright stripe. Greeley speculates that geysers The examples and perspective in this USA may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. This is an alphabetical list of notable geysers, a type of erupting hot spring: |
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