Europa's Leading Hemisphere

This image of Europa's Leading Hmisphere was obtained by the Solid State Imaging (CCD) System on board NASA's Galileo spacecraft during its seventh orbit of Jupiter. In the upper left part of the image is Tyre, a multi-ringed structure that may have formed as a result of an ancient impact. Also visible are numerous lineaments that extend for over 1000 Km. The limb, or edge, of Europa in this image can be used by scientists to constrain the radius and shape of the satellite. North is to the top of the picture and the Sun illuminates the surface from the right. The image, centered at -40° Latitude and 180° Longitude, covers an area approx. 2000 by 1300 Km. The finest details that can be discerned in this picture are about 6,6 Km across. The images were taken on April 3, 1997 at 17 h, 42', 19" Universal Time when the spacecraft was at a range of about 318.000 Km from Europa.