Review of Literature
I. Introduction- History of Ganymede Ganymede is the largest moon of Jupiter and in the entire Solar System. Ganymede is also the only moon to have a magnetosphere, which according to NOAA is the region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are controlled by that object's magnetic field. Ganymede was discovered on January 7th, 1610 by Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer that played a huge role in the scientific revolution during the Renaissance era. Galilei got the name Ganymede from the mythological Ganymede, cupbearer of the Greek gods and Zeus's beloved. Although Galilei is credited with the discovery of Ganymede, another scientist named Simon Marius claimed to have found Ganymede …show more content…
Ganymede also has a 4:1 orbital resonance with Io and a 2:1 resonance with Europa. An orbital resonance is a gravitational phenomenon in which two bodies that are both orbiting around one parent body are in a specific pattern. They are usually written with a ratio of two small integers. Ganymede has a synchronous rotation period. A rotation is the action of rotating around an axis or center. A synchronous rotation is the result of tidal forces that over time slow the rotation of the smaller body until it is synchronized with its period of revolution around the larger body. Ganymede’s rotation period lasts for about 7.154 days. Ganymede is considered tidally locked, meaning the amount of time it takes to orbit equals the amount of time it takes to complete a rotation period. III. Characteristics Ganymede’s surface is made up of two types of terrain. One half of the surface is old and cratered. The other half consists of much younger, lighter regions. The younger regions are noticeable with grooves and ridges. According to seasky.org, the grooves and ridges are believed to have been created by tectonic forces very similar to those that shape the surface of the Earth. Ganymede does not …show more content…
However, the mission was canceled in 2005 because of budget cuts. V. Life on Ganymede There have always been rumors on if there is life on Ganymede. According to the article Oxygen on Ganymede: Laboratory studies by M. Peters, there have been recent optical reflectance measurements of Ganymede revealed the presence of oxygen (O2). The article also states that Spencer et al found two weak absorption bands that are signature interacting pairs of O2 molecules. In addition, Noll et al found a strong absorption band in the near ultraviolet which suggested the presence of condensed ozone. Also, Spencer et al suggested that the oxygen on Ganymede is trapped in the ice because at the minimum recorded daytime temperature on Ganymede, oxygen is liquid or gaseous with a vapor pressure. He also detected stronger bands in the western half of the satellite’s orbit around Jupiter, which they interpreted as a difference between the surfaces of the leading trailing hemispheres. They suggest that the greater flux of plasma ions into the surface material on the trailing
I. Introduction- History of Ganymede Ganymede is the largest moon of Jupiter and in the entire Solar System. Ganymede is also the only moon to have a magnetosphere, which according to NOAA is the region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are controlled by that object's magnetic field. Ganymede was discovered on January 7th, 1610 by Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer that played a huge role in the scientific revolution during the Renaissance era. Galilei got the name Ganymede from the mythological Ganymede, cupbearer of the Greek gods and Zeus's beloved. Although Galilei is credited with the discovery of Ganymede, another scientist named Simon Marius claimed to have found Ganymede …show more content…
Ganymede also has a 4:1 orbital resonance with Io and a 2:1 resonance with Europa. An orbital resonance is a gravitational phenomenon in which two bodies that are both orbiting around one parent body are in a specific pattern. They are usually written with a ratio of two small integers. Ganymede has a synchronous rotation period. A rotation is the action of rotating around an axis or center. A synchronous rotation is the result of tidal forces that over time slow the rotation of the smaller body until it is synchronized with its period of revolution around the larger body. Ganymede’s rotation period lasts for about 7.154 days. Ganymede is considered tidally locked, meaning the amount of time it takes to orbit equals the amount of time it takes to complete a rotation period. III. Characteristics Ganymede’s surface is made up of two types of terrain. One half of the surface is old and cratered. The other half consists of much younger, lighter regions. The younger regions are noticeable with grooves and ridges. According to seasky.org, the grooves and ridges are believed to have been created by tectonic forces very similar to those that shape the surface of the Earth. Ganymede does not …show more content…
However, the mission was canceled in 2005 because of budget cuts. V. Life on Ganymede There have always been rumors on if there is life on Ganymede. According to the article Oxygen on Ganymede: Laboratory studies by M. Peters, there have been recent optical reflectance measurements of Ganymede revealed the presence of oxygen (O2). The article also states that Spencer et al found two weak absorption bands that are signature interacting pairs of O2 molecules. In addition, Noll et al found a strong absorption band in the near ultraviolet which suggested the presence of condensed ozone. Also, Spencer et al suggested that the oxygen on Ganymede is trapped in the ice because at the minimum recorded daytime temperature on Ganymede, oxygen is liquid or gaseous with a vapor pressure. He also detected stronger bands in the western half of the satellite’s orbit around Jupiter, which they interpreted as a difference between the surfaces of the leading trailing hemispheres. They suggest that the greater flux of plasma ions into the surface material on the trailing