Europa (lune de Jupiter) par Cassini
			
		
		
		
			What mysteries might be solved by peering into this crystal ball? 
In this case, the ball is actually a moon of 
Jupiter, 
the crystals are ice, and the moon is not only dirty but cracked 
beyond repair. 
Nevertheless, speculation is rampant that oceans exist under 
Europa's 
fractured ice-plains that 
could support life. 
This speculation was bolstered again this week by 
released images from the 
Hubble Space Telescope indicating that plumes of 
water vapor sometimes emanate from the ice-crusted moon -- 
plumes that might bring 
microscopic sea life to the surface.
Europa, roughly the 
size of 
Earth's Moon, is 
pictured here 
in natural color as photographed in 1996 by the now-defunct Jupiter-orbiting 
Galileo spacecraft.
Future observations by Hubble 
and planned missions such as the 
James Webb Space Telescope 
later this decade and a 
Europa flyby mission in the 2020s may further humanity's understanding not only of Europa and the 
early Solar System but also of the possibility that 
life exists elsewhere in the universe.