NASA's Galileo spacecraft first photographed a bizarre spider-like structure lurking within a large crater on Europa during a close flyby of the moon on March 29, 1998. Image courtesy of ASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Joel Kontinen
A new study reveals the likely origin of a mysterious spider-like pattern first spotted on Jupiter's moon Europa in 1998. The finding could have implications for a NASA spacecraft en route to the frozen world.
In March
1998, NASA's Galileo spacecraft — which studied Jupiter and its major
moons between 1995 and 2003 — made a close flyby of Europa, a frozen ocean moon
often considered one of the most likely places for extraterrestrial life to
exist in the solar system. During this flyby, the probe mapped out a roughly 13.7-mile-wide (22 kilometers)
impact structure, dubbed Manannán Crater, on the moon's icsy surface, and found
something strange lurking within it.
Some other experts
say that it was created by eruptions from hydrothermal vents on the floor
of Europa's subsurface ocean.
According
to new study, in The Planetary Science Journal, researchers proposed an
alternative explanation: that the Jovian spider formed in a similar way to how
dark dendritic patterns on Earth, known as "lake stars," typically
do.
With this
in mind, the researchers used a similar technique to partially recreate the
Manannán Crater's mysterious shape in the lab.
"Lake
stars are really beautiful, and they are pretty common on snow or slush-covered
frozen lakes and ponds," study lead-author Laura Mc Keown, a planetary scientist at the University of
Central Florida, said in a statement. "It is wonderful to
think that they may give us a glimpse into processes occurring on Europa and
maybe even other icy ocean worlds in our solar system."
However, rather than water rising through tiny holes, as
happens when lake stars form on Earth, Damhán Alla was likely birthed by an
asteroid impact — which created a small crack in Europa's icy shell that
enabled salty water to seep upward and paint the spider-like pattern on the
surface. (This asteroid impact likely happened after the Manannán Crater was
already formed.)
The researchers also noted similarities between Damhán Alla
and the infamous "spiders on Mars," which are dusty deposits on the
Martian surface that look
like swarming spiders when viewed from above. These fake arachnids,
known as araneiform terrain, form when submerged
carbon dioxide ice sublimates, or turns directly into a gas. Mc Keown's
team has previously recreated
these features on Earth too.
The similarities in shape between Damhán Alla and the spiders
on Mars are due to how "fluid flows through porous surfaces," Mc
Keown said. In theory, similar spider features could also form on other frozen
ocean worlds, such as Saturn's
moon Enceladus, Jupiter's other
moon Ganymede and the dwarf
planet Ceres, which resides in the asteroid belt beyond Mars.
So, this means
that some extraterrestrial life may abound on the moon, but life only comes
when a creator give life to them.
Source:
Harry Baker 2025
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