Europa+-+MD

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**Europa**
Europa in many ways is like another Earth. Scientists have found patches of ice in many different places on Jupiter’s moon. Scientists think that if the heat of Jupiter is great enough then it may be able to melt the ice and create liquid water. But, Europa’s temperature is too cold to ever be able to support life as we know it.

Europa has created a nickname over the years, freckled Europa. Europa was given this nickname because reddish spot appear on some spots of Europa. These reddish spots can also be called “Lenticulae”, which is Latin for freckles.

The moon Europa is slightly smaller than Earths moon. Just like Earth, Europa has an iron core, a mantle and a surface ocean of water. But on the other hand, Europa’s ocean is deep enough to cover all of the moon itself, but most of it is frozen over because it is so far away from the sun.

Europa’s orbit is every 3.5 days. This is also phase locked. This means that the same side of Europa’s surface is facing Jupiter at all times, just like the Earth. But because Europa is an oval shape, not a circle, when it comes closer to Jupiter its tide becomes much higher than when it was farther away from Jupiter.

Europa was discovered by Galileo Galilei. He made this discovery on January 8,1610. He also discovered 3 other Jovian moons on this same day. But Galileo had been observing Europa the night before on January 7,1610, but didn’t know what it was until the next night.

Visuals Make sure to include the location of your images; add a caption with this information
 * [[image:http://www.astro.virginia.edu/class/oconnell/astr121/im/europa-cross-sec.jpeg width="182" height="128" caption="http://www.astro.virginia.edu/class/oconnell/astr121/im/europa-cross-sec.jpeg"]] || [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Europa-moon.jpg/275px-Europa-moon.jpg width="156" height="177" caption="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Europa-moon.jpg/275px-Europa-moon.jpg"]] ||
 * [[image:tmsmawakasci6/Europa_Freckles_br.jpg width="179" height="146" caption="In this view, which combines images and data taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft during two different orbits around Jupiter, we see reddish spots and shallow pits peppered across the ridged Europan surface. "]] || [[image:http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/485660main1_PIA02590-Europa-226.jpg width="175" height="128" caption="The icy surface of Europa is shown strewn with cracks and ridges."]] ||

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 * Your Source List:**

**Topic: Research Focus**
 * Europa**
 * The discovery and the background information on Europa.**

**Notes** ==== Include notes, statistics and facts that you will use to write your final paper. You may want to label sections of your notes to help you be more organized as you write. As you take notes from a source, you should list the source citation in the Works Cited section above. ====
 * ~ Europa Statistics ||
 * ~ Discovered by || Simon Marius & Galileo Galilei ||
 * ~ Date of discovery || 1610 ||
 * ~ Mass (kg) || 4.8e+22 ||
 * ~ Mass (Earth = 1) || 8.0321e-03 ||
 * ~ Equatorial radius (km) || 1,569 ||
 * ~ Equatorial radius (Earth = 1) || 2.4600e-01 ||
 * ~ Mean density (gm/cm^3) || 3.01 ||
 * ~ Mean distance from Jupiter (km) || 670,900 ||
 * ~ Rotational period (days) || 3.551181 ||
 * ~ Orbital period (days) || 3.551181 ||
 * ~ Mean orbital velocity (km/sec) || 13.74 ||
 * ~ Orbital eccentricity || 0.009 ||
 * ~ Orbital inclination (degrees) || 0.470 ||
 * ~ Escape velocity (km/sec) || 2.02 ||
 * ~ Visual geometric albedo || 0.64 ||
 * ~ Magnitude (Vo) || 5.29 ||