- The images show the combination of chemicals that form the icy surfaces on Jupiter’s largest moons, Europa and Ganymede
Scientists have captured the most detailed images of the icy surfaces of Jupiter’s two largest moons, Europa and Ganymede.
According to what you mentioned Russia TodayThe team of planetary scientists from the University of Leicester’s School of Physics and Astronomy, led by doctoral student Oliver King, used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile to observe and map the surfaces of the moons.
Today’s Picture of the Week shows two of Jupiter’s moons, Europa and Ganymede, observed with our VLT. They’re the size of a 1 Euro coin seen from 3-5 km away, but with adaptive optics we can see details as small as 150 km
Credit: @IT’S /King & Fletcher pic.twitter.com/n83y6iqFJZ
— IT (@IT) October 10, 2022
The latest images from the observatory provide new insights into the processes that affect the chemical composition of the massive moons, as well as the geological characteristics of the moons, such as the long, fault-like lines that cross the surface of Europa.
The images show the mixture of chemicals that form the icy surfaces on Jupiter’s largest moons, Europa and Ganymede, two future destinations for new missions to the giant planet system.
Scientists from Leicester have revealed new images of two of Jupiter’s largest moons – Europa & Ganymede.
Funded by the @royalsociety and utilising the @IT’S Very Large Telescope in Chile, the team observed & mapped the surfaces of these two worlds. https://t.co/ncT7tShIH4 pic.twitter.com/JUlD0LxRfJ
— Space Park Leicester (@SpaceParkLeic) October 11, 2022
It is noteworthy that Ganymede and Europa are two of the four largest moons orbiting Jupiter, known as the Galilean moons.
Europa and Ganymede belong to the group of 79 natural satellites orbiting Jupiter
Europa is similar in size to Earth’s moon, while Ganymede is the largest moon in the entire solar system.
During the observations, sunlight reflected from the surfaces of Europa and Ganymede was recorded at different infrared wavelengths, producing reflectance spectra. The scientists then analyzed the results using a computer model that compares each observed spectrum with the spectra of different substances measured in laboratories.
In addition, they mapped the distributions of different materials on the surface, King said. As a result, the experiment revealed that Europa’s crust consists mainly of frozen water ice, while other non-ice materials have been recorded polluting the surface.
Ganymede’s observations, published in JGR: Planets, show how the surface is made up of two main types of terrain.
It is noteworthy that the small areas have large amounts of water ice, and the old areas are composed of unknown dark gray matter.