Advanced Intermediate Beginner Home English Spanish

Interior of Europa



This is a drawing of the interior of Europa.
Click on image for full size version (40K GIF)

The diagram to the left shows a cutaway of the possible interior structure of Europa. The composition of the icy moons is mostly ice, therefore there is probably a small core of some rocky material buried inside, covered with ice.

The diagram shows that there may be an ocean of water beneath the surface crust of ice on Europa. This is because the temperature inside Europa may be just right for water. Such an environment might prove to be suitable for life.

Return to Europa

Return to moons


Credits Settings Sponsorship Membership Contact us About the site Site map Help Myths People News Arts, books and film Images and multimedia Tours Life Geology Physics Space weather Space Missions Solar system Astronomy and the Universe Shop for science stuff Games Ask a scientist Journal Comets Dwarfs Neptune Uranus Saturn Jupiter Asteroids Mars Earth Venus Mercury Sun Teacher resources Kids Space Search Home



Last modified March 24, 1997 by the Windows Team

The source of this material is Windows to the Universe, at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/ at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). © The Regents of the University of Michigan. Windows to the Universe® is a registered trademark of UCAR. All Rights Reserved. Site policies and disclaimer