Craters of Europa Earrings

“All these worlds are yours, except Europa. Attempt no landings there.” - Arthur C. Clark, 2010 A Space Odyssey.

Europa is Jupiter’s sixth closest moon, and the smallest of its four Galilean satellites. However, it is still the sixth largest moon in the solar system. Europa was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and is named after Europa, mother of King Minos of Crete. Europa became one of Zeus’ many lovers.

Europa is best known for the series of dark streaks that crisscross the entire globe, called lineae. The largest of these bands are more than 20 km across and often consist of a dark, diffuse outer edges, regular striations and a central lighter band. The most likely hypothesis regarding these lineae states that they may have been produced by a series of eruptions of warm ice which occurred as the crust opened and exposed the warm layers beneath.

These earrings pay tribute to this moon and the mythical figure after which it is named.