Astronomy & Astrophysics<\/a>, however, reduced that confidence to below 90%, which scientists say is insufficient to claim definitive evidence.<\/p>\n\u201cOur reanalysis took our original 99.9% confidence in the plumes\u2019 existence and reduced it to less than 90% confidence,\u201d said Dr. Lorenz Roth of the Royal Technical Institute, Sweden, and lead author of the reanalysis. \u201cThat\u2019s simply not enough evidence to support the certainty of claims we made at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study does not rule out the possibility of plumes but highlights that prior data may have been misinterpreted. Retherford noted, <\/p>\n
\u201cThe description of the phenomena just doesn\u2019t hold up the same way anymore. The new data has made us reconsider the strength of the previous paper\u2019s conclusion regarding water vapor plumes. The recent analysis also provides improved information about the neutral hydrogen atom component of Europa\u2019s escaping atmosphere, originating from its water ice surface.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Aa59406](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/aa59406-26-fig2.jpg.webp\")
Data analysis and model fitting. Top: brightness for the entire Ly\u03b1\u00a0slit along the\u00a0y-axis, averaged over the\u00a0x-axis (i.e., over the slit width). Middle: Zoom-in of the top panel. Bottom: brightness along the\u00a0x-axis, averaged over a\u00a0y\u00a0range covering the disk diameter. The STIS data are shown as a black histogram. The fitted model is represented by dashed lines corresponding to different components: green for the background only, blue for the background plus H exosphere contribution, and red for the full model including surface reflection and IPH correction (see text). Note: the profiles are smoothed due to averaging over a detector axis (and, thus, across the disk), as well as by the convolution of the model image with the STIS point spread function. The vertical dotted lines indicate the disk center in all panels. The model was fitted within the central disk and the gray shaded regions (see top panel).
Credit: Astronomy & Astrophysics<\/p>\n
Comparisons With Other Icy Moons<\/p>\n
Europa is not alone in showing potential geologic activity. Saturn\u2019s moon Enceladus has confirmed water vapor plumes, and Jupiter\u2019s Io ejects sulfur dioxide into space. These moons provide a framework for understanding Europa\u2019s possible activity and demonstrate that plumes can occur in different chemical and physical environments.<\/p>\n
Scientists are particularly interested in Europa because of its vast saltwater ocean beneath the icy shell. Cracks in the ice could serve as pathways for water to escape, but confirmation will require direct observation. NASA\u2019s upcoming Europa Clipper mission<\/a>, scheduled to arrive in 2030, is expected to provide definitive measurements that will settle lingering questions about Europa\u2019s atmosphere and plume activity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A fresh analysis of 14 years of Hubble Space Telescope data has cast doubt on previous claims that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-436618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Aa59406](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/aa59406-26-fig1.jpg.webp\")
Overview of the analyzed HST\/STIS observations. Left: orbital positions of Europa from the start of the first exposures to end of the last exposures for each of the 23 HST\/STIS visits. Note: the gaps between exposures of a visit are not shown. Visit 21 combined exposures before and after transit. Right: complete STIS detector spectral image from visit 22. The Ly\u03b1\u00a0signal from the geocorona and the interplanetary hydrogen fills the complete slit (yellow-green region). Reflected continuum sunlight from Europa\u2019s surface forms the trace around row y=200. Atmospheric oxygen emissions are present at 1304 \u00c5 and 1356 \u00c5, exceeding the surface reflection.