Washington: NASA has released the first detailed image of Europa, the ice-covered moon of Jupiter, the fifth planet in the solar system, taken by the Juno spacecraft.
This image is the closest image of Europa taken by a spacecraft in the last 20 years. Previously, the image was taken by the US space agency’s Galileo in January 2000 from a distance of 351 km from Europa’s surface. The image shows Anon Regio, a region near Europa’s equator.
Europa is the sixth largest moon of the solar system, which is slightly smaller than Earth’s moon.
Scientists believe there is a salty ocean beneath the miles-thick ice shell, raising questions about the possible existence of an environment favorable for life below Europa’s surface.
At this point, the Juno spacecraft had only two hours to collect data. The spacecraft flew past the moon at a speed of 23.6 km per hour.
