How did europa get its name?

Answer 1

Europa was a maiden carried off by Zeus, so it was a logical name for a satellite of Jupiter. Astonomers do try to name bodies in some sorts of patterns, trading heavily on characters from Greek mythology (for another example, the moons of Mars are named for the horses of Ares, the Greek equivalent of the wargod Mars). Occasionally, however, they depart and the moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare.

Answer 2

In Greek mythology, the chief god Jupiter was anything but a faithful husband and father; Jupiter was said to have had numerous affairs.

All of the moons of Jupiter are named for Jupiter's lovers.

Europa is also Italian for Europe.

Answer 3

Europa, along with Jupiter's three other largest moons, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto, was discovered by Galileo Galilei in January 1610. As with all the Galilean satellites, Europa is named after a lover of Zeus, the Greek counterpart of Jupiter, in this case Europa, daughter of the king of Tyre. The naming scheme was suggested by Simon Marius, who apparently discovered the four satellites independently, though Galileo alleged that Marius had plagiarized him.

Answer 4

The Eurasian Plate is named for the fact that this plates holds the majority of Europe and Asia.