Researchers at Purdue University have studied images of large craters on Europa to determine the thickness of its icy shell. Europa's surface is relatively young and smooth, with only a few craters. The icy shell is known to cover a large interior ocean of salty water.
You can tell a lot about a planetary body just by looking at its surface, especially if it has craters. Take Europa , for example. It has a fairly young surface—somewhere between 50 and 100 million years old. That’s practically “new” when you compare it to the age of the Solar System. And, Europa ’s icy crust is pretty darned smooth, with only a few craters to change the topography.
Planetary scientists already know that Europa’s icy surface is a thin shell over a large interior ocean of salty water. How thin? To find out, a team of researchers led by Brandon Johnson and Shigeru Wakita at Purdue University studied images of large craters on Europa. They used what they saw, coupled with a variety of physical characteristics, to create computer models of that shell
Europa Icy Shell Craters Planetary Body Purdue University Interior Ocean
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