Posted on 06/14/2021 4:49:31 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: What does the largest moon in the Solar System look like? Jupiter's moon Ganymede, larger than even Mercury and Pluto, has an icy surface speckled with bright young craters overlying a mixture of older, darker, more cratered terrain laced with grooves and ridges. The cause of the grooved terrain remains a topic of research, with a leading hypothesis relating it to shifting ice plates. Ganymede is thought to have an ocean layer that contains more water than Earth -- and might contain life. Like Earth's Moon, Ganymede keeps the same face towards its central planet, in this case Jupiter. The featured image was captured last week by NASA's robotic Juno spacecraft as it passed only about 1000 kilometers above the immense moon. The close pass reduced Juno's orbital period around Jupiter from 53 days to 43 days. Juno continues to study the giant planet's high gravity, unusual magnetic field, and complex cloud structures.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
bttt
Looks like a lot of ATV activity. ????
Perfect place for ol’ Dr. Phuk-shi, don’t you think?
Somebody has been using that moon for target practice.
;-)
Short timer!
If it’s all ice... Just imagine.
Water for drinking, hydrogen for fuel, oxygen for breathing.
It’s as if God placed it right where we’d need it some day.
“Juno the reason for the grooves on Ganymede?”
“No, but Alaska.”
Those aliens and their ATVs are ruining the place.
LGBTQ month cannot even stay away from Jovan moons....sick.
Thank God for the planet Jupiter.
L
That would be God. Old Testament version, mostly.
Even if it’s only 10% water (or water ice), if it’s accessible, we’re in business (someday). Most observations indicate a lot more than 10% water / ice by volume, with ice on or very near the surface. It is a lot more H2O than Earth has.
https://www.businessinsider.com/water-space-volume-planets-moons-2016-10
If it’s not too rough, maybe my teenage daughter can practice driving there. Oh, wait...
Well, maybe her granddaughter.
Yup. We’ve have been toast a hundred times over if it weren’t for that big guy playing cosmic shortstop.
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