Ganymede tagged posts

Huge Ring-like Structure on Ganymede’s surface may have been caused by Violent Impact

Credit: Tsunehiko Kato, 4D2U Project, NAOJ

Researchers from Kobe University and the National Institute of Technology, Oshima College have conducted a detailed reanalysis of image data from Voyager 1, 2 and Galileo spacecraft in order to investigate the orientation and distribution of the ancient tectonic troughs found on Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. They discovered that these troughs are concentrically distributed across almost the entire surface of the satellite. This global distribution indicates that these troughs may be actually part of one giant crater covering Ganymede.

Based on the results of a computer simulation conducted using the “PC Cluster” at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), it is speculated that this giant crater could have resulted from the impact o...

Read More

Icy Moon of Jupiter, Ganymede, shows evidence of past Strike-Slip Faulting

The solar system's largest moon, Ganymede, is captured here alongside the planet Jupiter in a color picture taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 3, 2000. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

The solar system’s largest moon, Ganymede, is captured here alongside the planet Jupiter in a color picture taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 3, 2000.
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

A recently published study led by researchers at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology reveals Ganymede, an icy moon of Jupiter, appears to have undergone complex periods of geologic activity, specifically strike-slip tectonism, as is seen in Earth’s San Andreas fault. This is the first study to exhaustively consider the role of strike-slip tectonism in Ganymede’s geologic history.

Plate tectonics is the process on Earth that has created many familiar large scale features – oceanic and continental crust, mountain ranges, mid-ocean ridges, for example...

Read More

Million fold Increase in the Power of Waves near Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede

Strong whistler mode waves observed in the vicinity of Jupiter’s moons. Nature Communications, 2018; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05431-x

Chorus waves are electromagnetic waves. Converted to sound they sound like singing and chirping birds at dawn. They can cause polar lights above the Earth as well as damage to satellites. Now, a team of researchers has found that such waves are intensified million-fold around Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. This study provides important observational constraints for theoretical studies.

These are the new results from a systematic study on Jupiter’s wave environment taken from the Galileo Probe spacecraft...

Read More

NASA Scientists: “Suspect Jupiter’s Largest Moon Harbors a Vast Subterranean Ocean”

HUBBLE_7-376502_-I_3194332b

Hubble revealed the best evidence yet for an underground saltwater ocean on Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon this part March. The subterranean ocean is thought to have more water than all the water on Earth’s surface. Identifying liquid water is crucial in the search for habitable worlds beyond Earth and for the search for life, as we know it.

“This discovery marks a significant milestone, highlighting what only Hubble can accomplish,” said John Grunsfeld, assistant administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “In its 25 years in orbit, Hubble has made many scientific discoveries in our own solar system. A deep ocean under the icy crust of Ganymede opens up further exciting possibilities for life beyond Earth.”

Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system and the only moon w...

Read More