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Forty years ago, a Voyager spacecraft snapped the first closeup images of Europa, one of Jupiter’s 79 moons.

These revealed brownish cracks slicing the moon’s icy surface, which give Europa the look of a veiny eyeball. Missions to the outer solar system in the decades since have amassed enough additional information about Europa to make it a high-priority target of investigation in NASA’s search for life.

What makes this moon so alluring is the possibility that it may possess all of the ingredients necessary for life.

Scientists have evidence that one of these ingredients, liquid water, is present under the icy surface and may sometimes erupt into space in huge geysers. But no one has been able to confirm the presence of water in these plumes by directly measuring the water molecule itself.

Now, an international research team led out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, has detected the water vapor for the first time above Europa’s surface. The team measured the vapor by peering at Europa through one of the world’s biggest telescopes in Hawaii.

Confirming that water vapor is present above Europa helps scientists better understand the inner workings of the moon.

For example, it helps support an idea, of which scientists are confident, that there’s a liquid water ocean, possibly twice as big as Earth’s, sloshing beneath this moon’s miles-thick ice shell.

Another source of water for the plumes, some scientists suspect, could be shallow reservoirs of melted water ice not far below Europa’s surface.

It’s also possible that Jupiter’s strong radiation field is stripping water particles from Europa’s ice shell, though the recent investigation argued against this mechanism as the source of the observed water.

“Essential chemical elements (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur) and sources of energy, two of three requirements for life, are found all over the solar system. But the third – liquid water – is somewhat hard to find beyond Earth,” said Lucas Paganini, a NASA planetary scientist who led the water detection investigation. “While scientists have not yet detected liquid water directly, we’ve found the next best thing: water in vapor form.”

Paganini and his team reported in the journal Nature Astronomy on November 18 that they detected enough water releasing from Europa (5,202 pounds, or 2,360 kilograms, per second) to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool within minutes.

Yet, the scientists also found that the water appears infrequently, at least in amounts large enough to detect from Earth, said Paganini: “For me, the interesting thing about this work is not only the first direct detection of water above Europa, but also the lack thereof within the limits of our detection method.”

Indeed, Paganini’s team detected the faint yet distinct signal of water vapor just once throughout 17 nights of observations between 2016 and 2017.

Looking at the moon from the W. M. Keck Observatory atop the dormant Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, the scientists saw water molecules at Europa’s leading hemisphere, or the side of the moon that’s always facing in the direction of the moon’s orbit around Jupiter.

Europa, like Earth’s moon, is gravitationally locked to its host planet, so the leading hemisphere always faces the direction of the orbit, while the trailing hemisphere always faces in the opposite direction.

They used a spectrograph at the Keck Observatory that measures the chemical composition of planetary atmospheres through the infrared light they emit or absorb. Molecules such as water emit specific frequencies of infrared light as they interact with solar radiation.

Mounting evidence for water

Before the recent water vapor detection, there have been many tantalizing findings on Europa. The first came from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft, which measured perturbations in Jupiter’s magnetic field near Europa while orbiting the gas giant planet between 1995 and 2003.

The measurements suggested to scientists that electrically conductive fluid, likely a salty ocean beneath Europa’s ice layer, was causing the magnetic disturbances. When researchers analyzed the magnetic disturbances more closely in 2018, they found evidence of possible plumes.

In the meantime, scientists announced in 2013 that they had used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to detect the chemical elements hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) – components of water (H2O) – in plume-like configurations in Europa’s atmosphere.

And a few years later, other scientists used Hubble to gather more evidence of possible plume eruptions when they snapped photos of finger-like projections that appeared in silhouette as the moon passed in front of Jupiter.

“This first direct identification of water vapor on Europa is a critical confirmation of our original detections of atomic species, and it highlights the apparent sparsity of large plumes on this icy world” said Lorenz Roth, an astronomer and physicist from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm who led the 2013 Hubble study and was a co-author of this recent investigation.

Roth’s research, along with other previous Europa findings, have only measured components of water above the surface. The trouble is that detecting water vapor at other worlds is challenging.

Existing spacecraft have limited capabilities to detect it, and scientists using ground-based telescopes to look for water in deep space have to account for the distorting effect of water in Earth’s atmosphere.

To minimize this effect, Paganini’s team used complex mathematical and computer modeling to simulate the conditions of Earth’s atmosphere so they could differentiate Earth’s atmospheric water from Europa’s in data returned by the Keck spectrograph.

“We performed diligent safety checks to remove possible contaminants in ground-based observations,” said Avi Mandell, a Goddard planetary scientist on Paganini’s team. “But, eventually, we’ll have to get closer to Europa to see what’s really going on.”

Scientists will soon be able to get close enough to Europa to settle their lingering questions about the inner and outer workings of this possibly habitable world. The forthcoming Europa Clipper mission, expected to launch in the mid-2020s, will round out half a century of scientific discovery that started with a modest photo of a mysterious, veiny eyeball.

When it arrives at Europa, the Clipper orbiter will conduct a detailed survey of Europa’s surface, deep interior, thin atmosphere, subsurface ocean, and potentially even smaller active vents.

Clipper will try to take images of any plumes and sample the molecules it finds in the atmosphere with its mass spectrometers. It will also seek out a fruitful site from which a future Europa lander could collect a sample. These efforts should further unlock the secrets of Europa and its potential for life.

Other Goddard researchers on Paganini’s team included Geronimo Villanueva, Michael Mumma, and Terry Hurford. Kurt Retherford, from Southwest Research Institute, also contributed to the research.

Lonnie Shekhtman works for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – For the second time in less than a year, issues with county leadership have led to a vacancy in the top position in the elections office, leaving the Board of Supervisors with the responsibility of deciding how the department should be managed going forward.

The board held a discussion on Tuesday regarding next potential steps in the wake of Registrar of Voters Catherine McMullen’s resignation, submitted on Nov. 7, as Lake County News has reported.

The direction from Tuesday’s meeting is that staff is to begin an immediate recruitment for a new registrar.

McMullen, who took over the elections office at the end of June, originally intended to leave as of Nov. 22, according to her resignation letter.

However, County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson said McMullen has decided to stay with the county through Dec. 2 in order to certify Northshore Fire’s Measure N fire tax election, which took place two days before she submitted her resignation letter.

Huchingson said she wanted to discuss with the board the next steps for the Registrar of Voters Office, and asked that staff be given direction on how to approach the office’s short-term and long-term functions.

McMullen was not present for the discussion.

Her resignation letter gave little insight into her reasons for resigning. “While this was not an easy decision to make, it is the best decision moving forward for myself and my family,” McMullen wrote.

However, McMullen – who was raised in Lake County and moved back from Portland, Oregon, with her family to take the job – has shed more light on her tenure as registrar on her LinkedIn page, in response to Lake County News’ initial story on her resignation.

“This appointment was to be my dream job but instead has been a nightmare from day one. It is time to move on,” McMullen wrote.

Earlier this week, in a comment on a post about bullying, McMullen said, “I’m actively leaving a workplace where myself and others are experiencing bullying. I'm choosing to get out but it was a very difficult decision to make.”

The board on Tuesday did not address, at least in open session, the causes of McMullen’s departure.

Huchingson proposes consolidation, again

On Tuesday, Huchingson said that among the options the board has, the first is to recruit a new registrar of voters. Huchingson said staff estimated that would likely be a three-month process, as recruitments tend to slow down over the holidays.

California’s Super Tuesday presidential primary is only four months away, at the start of March. “From our view that timing is very problematic,” Huchingson said.

Huchingson said the second option is to restructure the Registrar of Voters Office, using government code to show how the office could be integrated into the County Clerk-Auditor-Controller’s Office, which is headed by Cathy Saderlund, an elected official, who also wasn’t present for the Tuesday meeting.

That’s the proposal Huchingson made last fall to the board last fall when longtime Registrar Diane Fridley announced her retirement. At that time the board didn’t agree to the proposal, especially after Fridley explained that the department originally had been separated for reasons of transparency and giving the board control over that department head.

However, Huchingson argued for it again on Tuesday.

She explained that in 2002 the county had split off its election function, which it was allowed to do under California Government Code Section 26802.5.

That code allows Lake and 12 other California counties to have an independent registrar’s office, a measure that supervisors pointed out was taken due to the appearance of conflict.

Huchingson said that Lake is the smallest county to have an independent registrar. With three staffers, it’s also Lake County’s smallest department.

Later in the discussion, Supervisor Bruno Sabatier would point out that, in fact, Modoc – with 8,000 residents, compared to Lake’s 65,000 – is the smallest county with an independent elections office.

Huchingson showed a list of options of how other counties combine their elections office with agencies such as the county clerk, public administrator or treasurer tax collector. Based on Huchingson’s analysis, in the majority of the state’s counties, the elections office is a function but not a separate department.

Regarding short-term coverage, Huchingson asked that the board agendize a discussion for its Nov. 26 meeting on a recommendation specific to returning the elections office to its earlier model of being combined with another department.

At the same time, Huchingson suggested she once again serve as interim registrar – as she did earlier this year after then-interim Registrar Maria Valadez left to take a job in Mendocino County – for the purposes of transition only. She suggested that interim appointment would be effective as of Dec. 3, upon McMullen’s departure.

For longterm coverage, Huchingson said staff recommended the board direct that a future agenda item, likely at the Dec. 10 meeting, be scheduled to rescind County Ordinance 2560, which was the basis of the change to government code and return the elections office function to the county clerk’s office.

Huchingson said Saderlund has expressed a willingness to take on the elections office and provide ongoing administrative support. Her new chief deputy, Marcy Harrison, who since April has served as interim registrar of voters, would provide transitional training.

Saderlund, Huchingson said, proposes to create a chief deputy registrar of voters to oversee the elections division while retaining the current positions and staff. Huchingson said it would offer the advantage of allowing election staff to focus on elections and not juggle responsibility for budget oversight and other duties.

“It’s tough to do all that in a small, small department,” she said.

Huchingson also advocated for the change because it would allow for cross training, offer depth when staffing changes occur and maximize staff resources.

“It’s tough to identify cons with this methodology,” said Huchingson.

However, some board members would do just that, raising concerns about accountability.

At no time on Tuesday did Huchingson explain how the proposal for combining the departments would impact a proposal to have Saderlund take over still another department – that of the treasurer-tax collector. That was another change Huchingson pushed but one which the board approved.

Earlier this year, Assemblywoman Cecelia Aguiar-Curry wrote a bill, AB 632, authorizing those two elected offices to be combined into one. It was signed by the governor this summer.

Saderlund told Lake County News later on Tuesday that she is not aware of any work having been done so far to move forward on consolidating her office with that of the treasurer-tax collector based on the approval of AB 632.

Board considers options

Supervisor Rob Brown said he was the one who brought the issue forward about breaking the elections office into its own department 17 years ago, taking it away from the supervision of an elected official due to perception.

Referring to Saderlund, although not by name, Brown said the person holding the county clerk-auditor-controller position is not going to be there forever. He said he has 1,000-percent confidence in her and that she isn’t up for election coming up, so the perception issue won’t be the same.

As such, he asked why they couldn’t consider making the interim registrar appointment soon.

County Clerk Anita Grant clarified that under current ordinance, the county clerk does not hold the elections function in an ex officio role – in other words, by rights of the office – as in other counties. However, that office could hold it as an interim appointment.

Sabatier said he thinks it’s important to keep the elections office separate, as he believed it increases accountability. While he didn’t mind having the auditor-controller offer interim oversight, “I don’t think that should be a final destination.”

He suggested beginning an immediate recruitment for a new registrar as part of making it a robust department, noting this is the second time in less than a year that the board was dealing with registrar staffing issues.

Sabatier added he wanted to see an upcoming discussion on what the county needs to do to make the elections office conducive to success, as he said it needed to be perceived as a strong department.

Supervisor Moke Simon said he liked Huchingson suggestion of combining the registrar’s office with the auditor-controller’s office.

He said it would allow for cross training and succession plans, which he said the county didn’t have before.

However, Sabatier countered that he believed there had been a potential succession plan and the county “blew it,” an apparent reference to the departure of Valadez, whose appointment to the job Huchingson tried to block by a proposed change to educational requirements.

Ultimately, Valadez left after the board put off making a permanent job offer and after she received another opportunity in Mendocino County.

Board Chair Tina Scott also said she wanted to see if the registrar’s office could be placed back with the auditor-controller.

Speaking of public perception, Grant – who said she had volunteered to help count ballots during previous elections – noted that Fridley always kept a separation, as she was “always very aware of public perception” and did an excellent job of honoring public concerns.

Northshore Fire officials raise concerns with process

Northshore FIre Chief Mike Ciancio told the board he was happy to hear McMullen would stay to validate the election.

He said he also was encouraged to hear that the board wants to work on the process.

Ciancio said his agency, Fire District Board Chair Jim Burton and the Friends of Northshore Fire District have submitted a letter of concern to Supervisor EJ Crandell about the election for its Measure N fire tax and the processes of the election.

He said he’s fielded a lot of calls about the election process, not so much about the results. He raised questions about whether the recent power shutoffs affected the election and the associated mailers.

Crandell said he submitted the letter to Grant and Huchingson and wanted it on an upcoming agenda.

Shannon Stilwell of the Friends of Northshore Fire District also spoke about the elections process, questioning the impact of the power shutoffs on the process and delivery, raising concern about the stability of the Registrar of Voters Office and deviations from the norm.

Stilwell said McMullen’s intended departure before the certification raised red flags.

“This is an issue that will affect the public in the Northshore for quite some time,” she said.

Gillian Parrillo questioned who would be staffing the office as people are filing documents to run for local offices, with a Dec. 6 deadline.

“We’ll know next Tuesday,” said Brown. “We don’t know who it’s going to be.”

Sabatier, Crandell and Brown all said they supported advertising for a new registrar of voters, which was the direction given to staff.

Next week, the board is scheduled to further discuss hiring a new registrar and where the office should be placed.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A local man who died in an early morning wreck in Napa County on Tuesday is being remembered for his energy and efforts to improve the community.

Jonathan Thorn, 32, of Lower Lake died in a double-fatal head-on crash on Highway 29, according to the Napa County office of the California Highway Patrol.

The CHP said the crash occurred at approximately 2:10 a.m. Tuesday on Highway 29 north of Bale Lane.

The other driver killed was 68-year-old Andress Hatch of Yountville, the CHP said.

The CHP said Hatch was driving his red 2014 Chevrolet Sonic southbound while Thorn was traveling northbound in a white 2010 Toyota Prius. The report said the two drivers were traveling at unknown speeds.

For reasons that the CHP said are still under investigation, Hatch’s Chevrolet crossed the solid double-yellow lines separating the northbound and southbound lanes, traveling the wrong way into the northbound lane.

There, Hatch’s Chevrolet collided head-on with Thorn’s Prius, the CHP said.

The CHP said both men died at the scene.

The report said that Thorn was wearing his seat belt but Hatch was not wearing his.

CHP Officer Marc Renspurger told Lake County News on Thursday that the investigation into the wreck is still under way.

“We still don’t have a definitive cause for the collision,” Renspurger said.

Renspurger said there are still toxicology reports and associated pieces of the investigation that have to take place. “And that’s not exactly a fast process.”

Thorn was involved in Lake County’s growing wine business.

His family owns Thorn Hill Vineyards in Lower Lake, where he had overseen the Red Hills tasting room, which opened in 2012, and the family’s wine ranch.

Thorn also was involved in a variety of community projects, most notably the Westside Community Park in Lakeport.

“Jonathan was passionate about beach handball and advocated for a Beach Oasis to be included in the several opportunities for recreation being developed by volunteers at Westside Community Park in Lakeport,” said Wilda Shock, chair of the Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee and a longtime supporter of the park.

“He brought players from the Bay Area to demonstrate beach handball during the annual Grillin’ on the Green fundraising event in 2016 and 2017, raising awareness of the sport,” Shock said.

Thorn also had led a local beach handball team that was heading up the fundraising for the beach handball court, as Lake County News previously reported in a story about the park.

“Jonathan supported numerous community arts events, most recently donating wine from his family’s winery to the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College to raise scholarship funds for theatre students through the Shakespeare at the Lake production held in Lakeport,” Shock said.

Dennis Rollins, chair of the Westside Community Park Committee, said Thorn was a member of the committee for four years.

Rollins added that Thorn was a young man who felt it was important to “be active in his community and assist to make it a better place.”

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The National Weather Service said several weather systems are expected to bring rain and mountain snow to Northern California next week for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The agency’s Sacramento office said quiet conditions are expected through Sunday, with a gradual warming trend. Weekend highs are forecast to be 6 to 12 degrees above normal.

On Monday, the forecast said there will be a dry, northerly flow event which will bring with it fire weather concerns. Wind gusts in the Sacramento Valley are expected to be between 25 and 35 miles per hour.

Then, on Tuesday, a weather pattern change is expected to arrive, bringing the potential for widespread precipitation – including rain and heavy mountain snows accompanied by low snow levels – beginning in the afternoon and evening hours, along with below-normal temperatures, the National Weather Service said.

On Wednesday, heavy mountain snow is possible, with accumulations at or below pass level.

For Thanksgiving Day, the forecast calls for cooler temperatures, with showers possible and low snow levels.

The specific Lake County forecast calls for chances of rain from Tuesday through Thanksgiving.

Daytime temperatures over the weekend are expected to peak in the low 60s, before dropping into the low 40s next week.

Nighttime temperatures will top out in the low 40s before dropping into the low 30s close to Thanksgiving.

For those planning to travel around Thanksgiving, the National Weather Service cautions that there could be significant travel delays due to snow across the region.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Animal Control has a new lineup of dogs needing new homes this week.

The kennels also have many dogs that need to be reunited with their owners. To find the lost/found pet section, click here.

The following dogs are ready for adoption. They include mixes of American Staffordshire Terrier, husky and shepherd.

‘Bernard’

“Bernard” is a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier mixed possibly with boxer, with a short brindle and white coat.

He has already been neutered.

Bernard, named for Santa’s chief elf, likes other dogs, cats and chickens, and is energetic and friendly.

He is estimated to be about 3 years old.

Bernard is dog No. 280.

‘Blue’

“Blue” is a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

He has a short blue and white coat and has been neutered.

He is dog No. 2420.

‘Burke’

“Burke” is a male Labrador Retriever with a short black coat with white markings.

He has been neutered.

He is dog No. 2628.

‘Charlotte’

“Charlotte” is a female Akita mix.

She is dog No. 3040.

‘Duchess’

“Duchess” is a female mastiff mix with a short brown and black coat.

She is dog No. 3214.

‘Fable’

“Fable” is a female Alaskan Malamute mix with a brown and buff coat.

She is dog No. 3044.

‘King’

“King” is a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier with a short brindle coat.

He has been neutered.

He is dog No. 3034.

‘Linus’

“Linus” is a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier mix with a short gray and white coat.

He is dog No. 3255.

‘Precious’

“Precious” is a female Staffordshire Bull Terrier with a short black coat.

She is dog No. 3268.

‘Woodrow’

“Woodrow” is a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier with a black and white coat.

He is dog No. 3281.

Clearlake Animal Control’s shelter is located at 6820 Old Highway 53, off Airport Road.

Hours of operation area noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The shelter is closed Sundays, Mondays and major holidays; the shelter offers appointments on the days it’s closed to accommodate people.

Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions.

Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or at the city’s Web site.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – A Mendocino County man was sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison on Thursday for an August 2017 slaying in which he shot another man in the back with a shotgun.

Michael Jay Saner, 61, of Navarro was sentenced in Mendocino County Superior Court.

Saner was arrested on Aug. 6, 2017, shortly after the fatal shooting of 55-year-old William Martinez, according to the original report from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities said the two men were known associates and were believed to have been involved in a dispute over property ownership.

In October, at the end of his trial, a jury found Saner guilty of murder in the first degree, meaning a murder that was willful, deliberate and premeditated. The jury also found true a sentencing enhancement that Saner personally and intentionally discharged a shotgun causing Martinez’s death, according to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.

The evidence at trial showed that Martinez was shot in the back. The jury also found Saner used tear gas during the commission of the murder, a sentencing enhancement, the District Attorney’s Office said.

Saner was sentenced to 25 years to life for first degree murder, as well as a consecutive 25 years to life for his personal and intentional use of firearm to inflict death upon another, the prosecution reported.

The District Attorney’s Office said Saner was “unrepentant.” On Thursday Saner continued to express outrage during his sentencing, claiming "the cops lied in their reports" and that he was being "railroaded."

At trial, Saner claimed he had blacked out during critical time periods which prevented him from being cross-examined as to what he might claim had happened on the date in question, officials said.

However, the District Attorney’s Office said Saner’s memory had recovered on Thursday and he now remembers that the victim had a knife that Saner believed justified him shooting Martinez in the back.

Other witnesses were clear from the start in their statements that Martinez was not armed with any sort of weapon when he was caught off guard at a friend's home and murdered, the District Attorney’s Office said.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Beth Norman represented the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office at the Thursday sentencing.