A fresh look at old data is giving scientists a new reason to consider Europa, a moon orbiting the planet Jupiter, as a leading candidate in the search for life beyond Earth. The reason: evidence of water from the moon shooting into space. NASA, the American space agency, noted an unusual shape -- a bend -- in Europa’s magnetic field in 1997. That was the year when NASA’s Galileo spacecraft passed close to the moon. For a time, it was about 200 kilometers above the surface. Scientists reported earlier this month on their reexamination of the Galileo data. They now think this bend in the magnetic field could be explained by an active geyser in an underground ocean. The scientists believe the spacecraft traveled through a plume of water.

What does plume mean?
feather
source of life
tall thin shape
type of water
What are scientists searching for?
important missions
life beyond Earth
new moons and planets
sources of water
The bend could be explained by an active geyser.
an unusual shape
an active geyser
a space shuttle
an underground ocean