Science and Tech

Europa’s Icy Shell Rotation Secrets Unveiled. Now We May Know the Reason? 

Europa's Icy Shell

Jupiter moon Europa’s icy shell rotates at a different speed from its interior, and the reason behind it has finally been found by researchers. 

Astronomers are looking for life options on the Jupiter moon Europa. Europa already has a vast ocean beneath the surface of the icy shell. 

There is no mission going on to explore Europa except it is recently observed by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. 

Europa’s icy shells and internal oceans are examined by only simulation and computer models. They are finding the answer that is there any correlation between the icy shell’s rotation and the ocean? 

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Europa’s Ice Rotation Has Connection with the Interior Ocean 

Europa's Icy Shell

The international team of researchers finds the answer that interior ocean and ice rotations have a direct connection. 

Their new studies find that the currents of the ocean drive the icy shells’ rotation, which is totally unexpected from their previous assumptions that icy shell movement is detached from the ocean currents. 

Scientists always tried to use Jupiter’s gravitational force impact on Europa and its ice shells’ movement.  

But they find an unexpected result that it is the interior ocean that drives the rotation of Europa’s icy shells. 

Dr. Hamish Hay, who is a researcher at the University of Oxford University but in the research team of NASA JPL-Caltech said “Before this, it was known through laboratory experiments and modeling that heating and cooling of Europa’s ocean may drive currents,“Now our results highlight a coupling between the ocean and the rotation of the icy shell that was never previously considered.”

Scientists Use Models to Study The rotation of Europa’s Icy Shells 

Europa's Icy Shell

Image Credit: NASA, Europa ocean currents are interacting with icy shells

NASA JPL-Caltech research team collaborated with the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division, they develop the circulation model of Europa’s interior ocean.  

They examine the drag force between the icy shell and the ocean beneath it. In fluid mechanics, the drag force is what a solid object experiences as it moves through a surrounding fluid.  

The same case with the bottom of Europa’s icy shell that’s moving through the interior ocean. 

They discovered that the ocean circulation appeared to start off with vertical motion- north-south and south-north-from the bottom of the ocean, Europa’s rotation caused these currents to eventually veer horizontally-east-west and west-east. 

They incorporated the drag force into models they discover that ocean currents affected the rotation speed of Europa’s icy shells. 

Dr.Robert Pappalardo, who is Europa Clipper Project Scientist at JPL said “To me, it was completely unexpected that what happens in the ocean’s circulation could be enough to affect the icy shell. That was a huge surprise. And the idea that the cracks and ridges we see on Europa’s surface could be tied to the circulation of the ocean below – geologists don’t usually think, ‘Maybe it’s the ocean doing that” 

NASA’s upcoming Europa Clipper Mission will schedule to launch in 2024 and arrive at Jupiter in 2030. 

These new findings by scientists help the mission to learn more about the how internal ocean affects the icy shell’s movement.  

For their mission preparation NASA prepare the simulation chamber model called “The Ark” to learn more about Europa.

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