This liquid water, in combination with a rocky silicate sea floor and radiolytically produce surface oxidants, may provide for a chemically rich ocean that would be considered habitable. While the surface of Europa may contain clues about the composition of an interior ocean, debate still continues about the surface’s chemistry and how exogenous radiation processing and endogenous oceanic emplacement play a role on this moon. One way of understanding Europa is determining if the external composition reflects the internal ocean chemistry. Results from the NIMS (Near Infrared Mapping Spectrograph) instrument on Galileo inferred that the surface of Europa was dominated by hydrated sulfate salts that would be probable in evaporates from an internal ocean. In finding that these spectral signatures are more predominant in what seems to be younger terrains, it strengthens the hypothesis that these are more newly sited evaporates. Further Study of the spectra, however, showed that these same NIMS surface spectra could be explained just as well by a surface dominated by hydrated sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is a probable outcome of bombardment of a frozen surface by sulfur ions. These sulfur ions are ultimately come from volcanoes located on Io, and then dissociated, ionized, and accelerated by Jupiter’s quickly spinning magnetic field until they hit Europa. Such radiolysis could also clarify the sulfur dioxide and sulfur allotropes seen on the surface of Europa and their favored appearance on the more heavily bombarded trailing hemisphere. The existence of sulfuric acid and other sulfur products appears to be nearly unavoidable, but the salt hypothesis is still convincing (Brown 1).
If there were to be a mission to Europa, it could possi...
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In the beginning of the creation of Earth volcanoes erupted all over the planet. During this period there was a time where a brief cooling period was allowed to take place. When this period took place evaporation caused a downpour of rain which flooded the ocean creating the ocean. At the time that ocean was averaged at 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Around this same time an asteroid so powerful hit the Earth knocking off a large chunk of it. This chunk became the moon which at the time was twice as close as it is today. The hitting of the planet Earth cause such a shake that many new undersea volcanoes began spewing forth molten rock and gasses. These gasses and other particles formed on the oceans surface and with the moon being so close were smashed together by strong and violent waves.
Have you ever looked up into the night skies and wondered what might be out there? One question I always wonder is where in the universe might there be a livable planet? Well the answer might be closer than you think, well actually 588 million kilometers away from earth. Jupiter of course is what I’m talking about. Fell first let’s ask the why we might move. Let’s face it earth is not going to be able to be habitable forever in fact ate the rate humans are polluting the atmosphere earth won’t be around that much longer. So might need a new place to live. So could the answer be Jupiter? Before that we need to know a little about the new planet and if it’s able to sustain life. Let’s start with the Jupiter’s history. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Jupiter was named after the king of the gods and Roman mythology. The ancient Greeks named the planet after Zeus, the king of the Greek pantheon. In 1610, a man that goes by the name “Galileo Galilei” was looking through his homemade telescope when he came across Jupiter. He notice four objects circling Jupiter and described them as "four fixed stars, totally invisible by their smallness" it was there were he discovered four large moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, which underwent several name change but are now known as the Galilean moons. This was the first time celestial bodies were seen circling an object other then Earth. Jupiter spins faster than any other planet, taking 10 hours to complete a turn on its axis, compared to that of 24 hours for Earth. This rapid spin makes Jupiter bulge at the equator and flatten at the poles, making the planet about 7 percent wider at the equator than at the poles. This is Jupiter and this is Jupiter next to the earth. Jup...
"Our Solar System: Galileo's Observations of the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and the Sun." Solar System Exploration: Science & Technology: Science Features: Our Solar System: Galileo's Observations of the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and the Sun. NASA, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. .
It is without a doubt that the most fascinating thing about space is the possibility of life elsewhere beside Earth. It is estimated that the Milky Way Galaxy itself contains about 300 billion stars. Each star contains planets and some planets might even have moons. With these findings, the question is no longer whether life exists elsewhere. The probability that Earth is the only place where life exists in the universe is far too slim. NASA has identified many planets that have similar conditions to Earth but most of these planets are hundreds of light years away so traveling there to find out if there’s any living organism is not easy. Luckily, scientific evidences have pointed out that one of the moons of Jupiter, Europa, could be one of the places where life can exist. If the theories proposed by astronomers about Europa are true, life on Europa might not even be entirely different than life near the bottom of Earth’s oceans.
Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, has yet to be discovered as in depth as Juno will. NASA New Frontiers recently established the Juno Mission to observe Jupiter (Ionescu 1). The spacecraft is currently on route to Jupiter and it is set to arrive in 2016. Juno will orbit Jupiter thirty-three times total before shutting down (Ionescu 1). Juno will observe Jupiter with deeper observation than can be seen by a telescope. The Juno Spacecraft is a project made to discover Jupiter’s high winds, a possible water source, and the planetary structure.
Research News Planetary Scientists are Seeing the Unseeable Richard A. Kerr Science, New Series, Vol. 235, No. 2 -. 4784. The. Jan. 2, 1987, pp. 113-117. 29-31. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Stable URL:
Galileo used this great invention to report astronomical facts such as the moon is cover with craters instead of being smooth, the Milky Way is composed of millions of stars, and Jupiter have four moons. Perhaps the most famous discovery is the Earth revolves around the Sun and the Earth is not the center of the universe (even though he was discredited at the time).
Perhaps one of the most interesting features of our fathomless universe are the planets that are classified as gas giants. Huge, turbulent, and distant, the gas giants are some of the most enigmatic features in our Solar System. I have a personal interest to the gas giants and celestial bodies in general. When I was a child, I was fascinated by our Solar System. I read innumerable books about space, and my interests of outer space had been piqued further by other forms of media. Although I held this interest of space, growing up left me with little time to learn about space, and I lost interest for a while. Taking Earth Science in Milpitas High re-invigorated my interests in the celestial bodies. Using this class, I’m now able to focus on learning more about our colossal universe, in particular, the outer planets.
?The Eagle has landed.? Many people use this phrase without knowing where it came from. On July 20, 1969, NASA astonished the world, when Neil Armstrong spoke these words when the Apollo spacecraft, nicknamed ?the Eagle,? landed on the moon?s surface. He later spoke the famous words, ?One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,? when he was the first man to set foot on the moon. When astronauts walk on the moon, they are allowed to breathe, because of their space suits. These space suits have oxygen tanks in them, and allow astronauts to stay out in space for up to seven hours at a time. They have to think ahead a few steps so they can step or turn without difficulty, because they have to take huge steps. The pull of gravity on the moon is one-sixth lower than the pull of gravity on the Earth, which makes them a lot lighter on the moon. The moon?s gravitational pull controls the ocean?s tides on the Earth. The moon pulls the Earth and water towards it, which causes an increase of water nearest the moon. As the moon pulls the core of the Earth towards it, the water on the side farthest away from the moon flings around to the side, and creates an increase of water there, too. The increase of water is called a high tide. On the sides of the Earth not facing the sun or moon, there are low tides. Each beach or po...
Uranus is so far away that scientists knew comparatively little about it before NASA's Voyager 2 undertook its historic first encounter with the planet. The spacecraft flew closely past distant Uranus, and came within 81,500 kilometers (50,600 miles) of Uranus's cloudtops on Jan. 24, 1986. Voyager 2 radioed thousands of images and mass amounts of other scientific data about Uranus, its moons, rings, atmosphere, interior and magnetic environment. However, while Voyager has revealed much about the gas giant, many questions remain to be answered.
Galileo is one of the greatest scientists in the world, especially at that moment. At that
In August, Galileo demonstrated it to some Venetian merchants. in 1609, he made the decision to turn his telescope towards the sky. In March 1610, he published a small booklet, The Starry Messenger, revealing his discoveries that the moon was not flat and smooth, but that it was a sphere with mountains and craters. He also He also found Venus had phases like the moon. He discovered Jupiter had revolving moons.
Our solar system has eight planets, their moons and satellites, and they are all orbiting the Sun. The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto used to be the ninth planet but IAU changed the definition of planet and Pluto did not meet the standards so it is now a Dwarf planet.
In 1609 the telescope was invented and Galileo began making his own lenses for better telescopes and then started looking at the sky. In December and January (1609-1610) it is said that he made more discoveries that changed the world that anyone has made before or since. He wrote a book called the “Starry Messenger”, and said that there were mountains on the moon, the Milky Way was made up of many stars, and there were small bodies in orbit around Jupiter. He used his mathematical skills to calculate the motions of these bodies around Jupiter. In 1610 he started looking at Saturn and discovered the rings, and the phases of Saturn (just like our moon’s phases).