SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, July 15, 2011
7:30pm
McDonnell Hall
Washington University

All These Worlds Are Yours - Including Europa

by

Ms. Kelsi Singer
Washington University

Europa is one the moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo in 1610. A little smaller than Earth’s Moon, Europa is an exciting world in its own right.  Its icy surface is covered with fascinating geological features indicating recent (or perhaps current) geologic activity.  It also boasts a subsurface ocean under the outer icy shell, which is considered to be one of the best places in the solar system to look for life outside of Earth. Using NASA images from the Galileo and Voyager missions to Jupiter, Ms. Singer will provide a close-up view of this ice world and an overview of current theories about its internal structure, its ocean, and its surface features.

Kelsi Singer is a Doctoral candidate in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University. She received a B.A. in Astronomy from the University of Colorado in 2006, following studies that included an internship in the Australian Centre for Astrobiology.  She is a planetary geophysicist, with particular interest in the icy satellites of the giant planets.