And they found that on December 16, 1997 the spacecraft appears to have flown straight through a plume on Europa, ejected from a suspected ocean beneath its icy surface. This corroborates with previous findings from the Hubble Space Telescope that suggests Europa is ejecting plumes. [...]
This spike is thought to be consistent with a plume coming from the moon. As the water was ejected out from the surface, it would have droplets and material ranging in size from molecules to dust grains. These become ionized as they travel into space, turning into charged particles known as plasma. [...]
One of the most intriguing things about the E12 flyby is the location of the suspected plume. The team thinks it was coming from a region near a big crater on Europa called Pwyll Crater, which is just south of the moon’s equator. And this is a similar region to where Hubble saw its plumes before.
This suggests there is some sort of “thermal anomaly” in this area, notes Jia, from which Europa is emitting plumes. It’s unclear at the moment how continuous this process is, though, and that could be vital to scientists on two upcoming missions. [...]
And that has all kinds of crazy implications. Because the interior of Europa, and other icy moons like it, may contain the necessary ingredients for life, including water and energy in the form of heat. If they have hydrothermal vents at their ocean floor, as some suggest, then these could be prime locations for life to arise.
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