Europa vents water, Hubble data suggest

Plumes from ice-covered oceans would increase likelihood of life-friendly conditions on moon of Jupiter

BLUE MOON  Hydrogen atoms that could have originated in water molecules shooting up from an ocean buried by ice appear in blue, superposed on a photo of Europa.

L. Roth/Southwest Research Institute and USGS

Water vapor spews from jagged cracks near the south pole of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, according to a study published December 12 in Science.