The surface of Europa is very smooth, and it is only lightly cratered, indicating that the moon is tectonically active.
For this reason and others, scientists believe that beneath Europa’s surface of solid ice there may be an ocean of liquid water. Therefore, if lifeforms exist anywhere in our Solar System besides Earth, Europa is considered to be among the most likely habitats.
Europa is in orbital resonance with Io and Ganymede: for every orbit of Ganymede, Europa orbits twice and Io orbits four times.
You can view these links to learn more about Europa and the Galilean moons:
The Europa image on this page was taken in the late 1990s by the Galileo probe, and is courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute. Back to main Jupiter page
