Scientists May Have Been Wrong About Europa’s Water Plumes

InnovationScienceScientists May Have Been Wrong About Europa’s Water PlumesByJamie Carter,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky.Follow AuthorMay 26, 2026, 02:00am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This artist's concept depicts NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft as it orbits Jupiter and passes over the gas giant's ice-covered moon Europa.NASA/JPL-CaltechA new analysis of more than a decade of Hubble Space Telescope observations challenges earlier claims that Jupiter’s icy moon Europa periodically ejects water vapor plumes into space.Researchers from Southwest Research Institute have re-examined 14 years of ultraviolet data, which significantly weakens the evidence for the plumes. The new findings, published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, suggest that earlier observations may have been influenced by statistical uncertainty rather than definitive signs of erupting water vapor.It doesn’t mean plumes on Europa are impossible — just that the new analysis lowers confidence in the original conclusions.Revisiting A Landmark DiscoveryEuropa has long fascinated scientists because beneath its geologically active yet frozen “chaos terrain” of ridges and valleys lies what is believed to be a vast saltwater ocean. If water vapor plumes exist, they could provide a rare opportunity to study material from the moon’s hidden ocean without drilling through miles of ice — though that would still require a spacecraft flyby.In 2014, astronomers analyzing Hubble observations reported evidence of faint plumes detected through Lyman-alpha emissions, a specific ultraviolet wavelength associated with hydrogen atoms. The data hinted that water vapor escaping from Europa’s surface could be breaking apart into hydrogen and oxygen in space.MORE FOR YOUNASA's Europa...