HUBBLE ATLAS
Plume Erupting From Europa – 22 February 2016 — image from the Hubble Space Telescope

Solar System

Plume Erupting From Europa – 22 February 2016

April 24, 2017 · ESA/Hubble

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These composite image shows a suspected plume of material erupting from Jupiter's icy moon Europa. The plume, photographed in ultraviolet light by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, was seen in silhouette as the moon passed in front of Jupiter.

The plume was observed on 22 February 2016 and is estimated to be about 100 kilometres high. The snapshot of Europa, superimposed on the Hubble image, was assembled from data from NASA's Galileo mission to Jupiter.