2016/09/26 by W. B. Sparks, K. P. Hand, M. A. McGrath +3 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Absorption (acoustics) #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Jupiter (rocket family) #Latitude #Line (geometry) #Outgassing #Planetary Science and Exploration #Plume #Spectral line #Statistical evidence #astro-ph.EP
paper · pdf · doi:10.3847/0004-637x/829/2/121
24 pages, 23 figures
arxiv created 2016/09/26 · openalex publication_date 2016/09/29 · arxiv updated 2016/10/05 · openalex created_date 2016/10/07 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
ABSTRACT Roth et al. (2014a) reported evidence for plumes of water venting from a southern high latitude region on Europa: spectroscopic detection of off-limb line emission from the dissociation products of water. Here, we present Hubble Space Telescope direct images of Europa in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) as it transited the smooth face of Jupiter to measure absorption from gas or aerosols beyond the Europa limb. Out of 10 observations, we found 3 in which plume activity could be implicated. Two observations showed statistically significant features at latitudes similar to Roth et al., and the third at a more equatorial location. We consider potential systematic effects that might influence the statistical analysis and create artifacts, and are unable to find any that can definitively explain the features, although there are reasons to be cautious. If the apparent absorption features are real, the magnitude of implied outgassing is similar to that of the Roth et al. feature; however, the apparent activity appears more frequently in our data.