Europa

Europa is the sixth closest moon of Jupiter and is the smallest of the Galilean moons discovered by Galileo. Even though it is the smallest of the Galilean moons, Europa is still the sixth largest of the 181 moons in the solar system.

Europa is a frozen, icy world and is a unique object in the solar system – scientists believe that beneath the frozen layer of ice on Europa’s surface, there is a salt-water ocean in contact with a rocky seafloor. If this is proven to be true, Europa may be a promising place for life to exist beyond Earth.

The moon is named after a phoenician noblewoman who became queen of Crete in Greek mythology.

Europa was a noblewoman which the continent of Europe was named after. Europa was abducted by Zeus – the Greek counterpart for the Roman Jupiter – after the god of the skies transformed into a bull. He took her to the island of Crete to be his lover. She became the queen of Crete and had a number of children with Zeus.

Sources:http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/europa/indepth
http://theplanets.org/europa/

Made using: Celestia & GIMP