Ridges on Europa

This is a high resolution picture of Jupiter's moon Europa. The area shown is about 5.9 by 9.9 miles (9.6 by 16 kilometers) and the smallest visible feature is about the size of a football field. In this view, the ice-rich surface has been broken into a complex pattern by cross-cutting ridges and grooves resulting from tectonic processes. Sinuous rille-like features and knobby terrain could result from surface modifications of unknown origins. Small craters of possible impact origin range in size from less than 330 feet (100 meters) to about 1300 feet (400 meters) across are visible.

This image was taken by the solid state imaging television camera aboard the Galileo during its fourth orbit around Jupiter, at a distance of 2,060 miles (3,340 kilometers). The picture is centered at 325 degrees West, 5.83 degrees North. North is toward the top of this image, with the sun shining from the right.