Europa-Jupiter's Moon
By: Ira R.
What is it
Europa is a moon of Jupiter. It's Jupiter's 6th moon. It was discovered by Galileo on Jan. 8 1610. It's the 15 biggest body in the solar system.
Size and Distance
It's smaller than Earth’s moon. Europa is bigger than Pluto. It is 485 million miles from the Sun. It's 1900 miles in diameter. It orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days.
Atmosphere and Life
Europa has semi-frozen oceans on its surface. At the equator it's -260 degrees
Fahrenheit . At the poles it is -370 degrees Fahrenheit. Europa might be able to support life.
Europa: Ocean World
Other Cool Facts
Europa has evidence of plate tectonics. It has a thin oxygen atmosphere. Europa is the smallest Galilean moon. It is about 4.5 billion years old.
Sources
Europa. Digital image. Wikipeida. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <en.wikipedia.org>.
"Europa: Ocean World." YouTube. YouTube, 21 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.
Explore the Solar System. Chicago: World Book, 2011. Print.
In Arthur C Clarke's 2010 A Space Odyssey, the supercomputer HAL issues a last instruction to the Discovery crew ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA .. Digital image. Daily Galaxy. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <www.dailygalaxy.com>.
Staff, SPACE.com. "Europa - Facts And Information About Jupiter Moon Europa | Space.com." Space.com. Space.com Staff, 09 Feb. 2015. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.