--- title: Jupiter's Moon Europa: A New View description: A reprocessed image of one of the most fascinating bodies in the solar system canonical: https://time.com/3600234/europa-jupiter-new-picture/ author: Jeffrey Kluger article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-21T20:39:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:06:58.029Z article:section: Science og:title: See A New, Reprocessed View of Jupiter's Moon Europa og:description: This is not the back of an eyeball. It's Jupiter's frozen moon Europa. og:url: https://time.com/3600234/europa-jupiter-new-picture/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cfe3062db206486/69876a57cd1bba01676f3afd/jupiter-europa-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=812&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 812 og:image:height: 457 og:image:alt: The newly released image of Jupiter's moon Europa. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See A New, Reprocessed View of Jupiter's Moon Europa twitter:description: This is not the back of an eyeball. It's Jupiter's frozen moon Europa. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cfe3062db206486/69876a57cd1bba01676f3afd/jupiter-europa-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=812&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New View of the Solar System's Most Fascinating Moon > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large Nov 21, 2014 8:39 PM UTC  The newly released image of Jupiter's moon Europa. The newly released image of Jupiter's moon Europa. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute  by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large Nov 21, 2014 8:39 PM UTC This is not the back of an eyeball—even though it looks like the back of an eyeball. It’s Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa—the sixth largest moon in the solar system, just behind Earth’s. But the organic appearance of Europa in this newly released, newly reprocessed image captured by the Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s is apt all the same, because the moon may be the likeliest world in the solar system to harbor extraterrestrial life. Europa is entirely covered by a shell of water ice, anywhere from 1.8 mi. to 62 mi. (3 to 100 km) thick, depending upon which astronomer’s estimates you’re using and where on the moon you’re measuring. But the existence of the ice is proven, and it all but certainly covers a deep, mineral rich water ocean descending to a depth of another 62 mi. It is tidal flexing that keeps the ocean liquid—the steady gravitational plucking Europa experiences every time is passes or is passed by one of its three large sister moons, Io, Ganymede and Callisto. In the same way a wire hanger bent rapidly back and forth can become too hot to touch at the point of flexing, so too does the center of Europa heat up. That causes the water to remain both relatively warm and constantly in motion. Keep that up for 4 billion years in an oceanic environment believed to contain hydrocarbons, and you may well cook up something living. The most compelling evidence for Europa’s dynamic behavior was gathered by Voyager 2, when it flew by the moon in 1979, and Galileo, when it arrived in Jovian orbit in 1995\. The cameras of both spacecraft captured the vascular-looking webwork of fractures in the moon’s surface ice, and close up images revealed what looked like jagged icebergs that had broken free, tipped sideways and quickly frozen back in place in the paralyzing cold of deep space. All this suggested an ocean that was in constant motion. The colors used in earlier versions of the reprocessed image were based on knowledge of what the moon’s chemistry is and a bit of conjecture about exactly what shades it would produce. But the new version is based on both improved knowledge and improved image processing. The ruddy colors in the fractures are the products of the minerals that bubble up through the cracks. Green, violet and near-infrared filters were used to establish the proper palette. A better, more accurate picture of Europa does nothing to change the facts on the ground there—or, more tantalizingly, below the ground. The moon remains the most fascinating non-Earthly object in our solar system. The new image, however, does serve as one more come-hither gesture from a world that’s been beckoning us to return for a long time. ### PHOTOS: This Astronaut's Images of Earth Look Like Beautiful Abstract Paintings  "Harsh land. Windswept valleys in northern #Africa"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 6, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA  "Land use in South Africa, you can see where water is."—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 9, 2014. Alexander Gerst—ESA  "Irrigation in the #Sahara #Desert looks like a challenging task from up here... #BlueDot"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 28, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA  "An open history book of our planet: the #Sahara Desert"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 26, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA  "An open history book of our planet: the # Sahara Desert"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 26, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA/SIPA USA  "Close-up of gigantic Salar of Uyuni in Bolivia. You can even see the salt fields and the 'Cactus Island'."—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 15, 2014. Alexander Gerst—ESA  "The #Moon was still behind the horizon. A #FataMorgana of atmospherical refraction #BlueDot"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 14, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA/SIPA USA  "When I took this photo, I was sure these are clouds. But now I'm not so sure... #BlueDot"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 7, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA  "Probably a river in Kazakhstan or slightly west of it."—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 29, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA/SIPA USA  "An open history book of our planet: the #Sahara Desert"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 26, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA  "Human-made fires in East Africa. Can you spot them?"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 9, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3600234/europa-jupiter-new-picture/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3600234/europa-jupiter-new-picture/"},"headline":"New View of the Solar System's Most Fascinating Moon","datePublished":"2014-11-21T20:39:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:58.029Z","description":"NASA's reprocessed picture of Jupiter's Europa gives us a fresh look at the likeliest place in the solar system for extraterrestrial life.","url":"https://time.com/3600234/europa-jupiter-new-picture/","keywords":["Space","NASA","Ocean","jupiter"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cfe3062db206486/69876a57cd1bba01676f3afd/jupiter-europa-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeffrey Kluger","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cfe3062db206486/69876a57cd1bba01676f3afd/jupiter-europa-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The newly released image of Jupiter's moon Europa.","caption":"The newly released image of Jupiter's moon Europa.","creditText":"NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3600234/europa-jupiter-new-picture/","name":"New View of the Solar System's Most Fascinating Moon"}}]}] ```