August 13, 1996
The same gravity that holds galaxies together and keeps planets in their orbits also held you to the Earth on the day you were born.
Europa's Surface
Birthday · August 13, 1996
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published August 13, 1996. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Voyager spacecraft images of Europa's surface, like the one above, are suggestive of sea ice on Earth. The criss-crossing dark streaks may indeed be cracks in its ice-covered surface caused by Jupiter's tidal stresses accompanied by the freezing and expansion of an underlying layer of water. This tantalizing prospect of oceans of liquid water beneath its frozen surface has helped make the smallest of the Galilean moon's of Jupiter a planned focus of the Galileo spacecraft's ongoing mission to explore the Jovian system. New Europa images and results from the Galileo mission were released today revealing details which further suggest that Europa's icy surface was once - and may still be - supported on slush or liquid water.