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JUPITER and its MOONS

JUPITER and its MOONS. Jupiter – general information. Mass - 1.9 x 10 27 kg Equator - 142,800 kilometers. Jupiter’s atmosphere. Has the most dynamic atmosphere motion

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JUPITER and its MOONS

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  1. JUPITER and its MOONS

  2. Jupiter – general information • Mass - 1.9 x 1027 kg • Equator - 142,800 kilometers

  3. Jupiter’s atmosphere • Has the most dynamic atmosphere motion • Composition: complicated molecules such as ammonia and methane, as well as simple molecules such as helium, hydrogen, and sulfur • Great Red Spot – 4 times Earth’s size • Aurora emissions

  4. Great Red Spot

  5. Aurora Emissions

  6. Jupiter’s Rings • The rings consist of an inner main ring and two outer Gossamer rings • The rings are formed as asteroids and meteors, pulled in by Jupiter's massive gravitational field, strike the planet's inner satellites kicking up dust and debris • The dust and debris enters Jupiter's orbit at much the same distance and orientation as their source satellites

  7. Jupiter’s Moons • 1610: Galileo Galilei discovered 4 moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto • Over the centuries 12 more moons have been discovered, bringing the total to 16 • Other 12 satellites have been recently discovered, but are not officially confirmed and named

  8. Galileo spacecraft • “Galileo” had a long term mission of observing Jupiter and its moons (1996 – 2001) • September 21, 2001 – Galileo crashed into Jupiter • The crash was planned. Galileo was not left to drift because it might have hit Europa, which is considered to be one of the most likely places in our Solar System to find life

  9. Life on Europa? • Europa – potential refuge for life, scientists say • May contain possible ingredients for life: water, energy source, organic compounds and billions of years of development • About Europa: • roughly the size of our Moon • 790 mill km from the Sun • -145° Celsius at surface

  10. Life Ingredients on Europa • It is believed that Europa is heated by tidal flexing – result of the gravitational tug-of-war among Jupiter and its moons • “Galileo” spacecraft images revealed patterns of ridges and cracks in the crust that suggest an icy shell moving over a liquid ocean • As a result of tides, liquid water regularly bathed crustal cracks and surfaces with heat and whatever nutrients are included in the oceanic chemistry, creating a variety of potentially habitable crustal environments. • Europa might have organic compounds; “Galileo” found carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and other organics on neighboring moons Callisto and Ganymede • Another possibility is that hydrothermal vents, like those at the bottom of the Earth's oceans, are spewing energy and chemicals into Europa's ocean. Such vents could be a refuge for life

  11. THANK YOU

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