Podcasts about galilean moons

Show Notes for Sky and Telescope-AIRSLA December Sky and Telescope News Notes - Various news articles from the world of astronomy "A Shape Shifting Asterism" - The circlet of Pisces changes form depending on how you look at it. - Stephen James O'Meara "The Werner-Airy Enigma" - Does this Lunar region contain a forgotten basin? - Charles A. Wood "What Are the Galilean Moons? - Peter Tyson "Under Construction" - The earliest exoplanet spectra from the James Webb Space Telescope are extraordinary - and challenging. Astronomer's toolkits need a major upgrade in order to interpret the data. - Shannon Hall "Slashes in the Sky" - Spend some time on winter nights observing flat galaxies - Ivan Maly "An Unexpected Joy" - Last Mays' breathtaking aurora caught the author off guard in the most rewarding way - Steve Benham AIRSLA This podcast is produced by Audio Internet Reading Service of Los Angeles (AIRSLA). These recordings are provided solely for the use of the blind and print impaired. Materials or items read on AIRSLA are the copyright property of the original authors and publishers. No unauthorized use or duplication is permitted. Contact Information website: https://airsla.org email: airslafeedback@gmail.com

The total solar eclipse is almost here! In this special episode of The LIUniverse, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu bring you both the basics and some more in-depth investigations of how eclipses work, how to see them, and what makes them so unique. This episode includes clips from Chuck's recent public talk at the College of Staten Island to a packed house. So, if you hear some background chatter, it's the audience getting as excited about the eclipse as we are.   Today's joyfully cool cosmic thing is, of course, the eclipse itself! Dr. Liu discusses why total solar eclipses are so rare at any given spot on the planet, and how illustrations of eclipses can miss the mark. While a total eclipse will happen somewhere on Earth every year or two, each is only visible in a narrow band, so to see one you need to get lucky – or travel.   With a path over land stretching from Mazatlán, Mexico (where Dr. Liu saw a previous eclipse in 1991) through Newfoundland, Canada, there are already tens of millions of people in place to see this astronomical wonder this time around. Millions more will travel to join them. Since the Moon's shadow races across the landscape at about 1,000 miles per hour, Chuck likens the visual effect to something out of Lord of the Rings.   Speaking of rings, the “diamond ring effect” and the “Baily's beads” will become visible right before totality as the sun peeks through the Moon's valleys. Chuck and Allen talk about how to protect your eyes so to enjoy these last rays of sun safely.   Dr. Liu shares how best to get yourself into the ~100 mile wide path of totality. One piece of advice: Don't try to battle the traffic driving up on the morning of the 8th!   What if you can't reach totality? Charles explains that 99% of the best parts of an eclipse happen in that last 1% of the eclipse where the Sun becomes completely covered. Don't worry if you can't make it to the path of totality – Charles and Allen share cool stuff you can watch for including a method for calculating the true size of the Moon (link below).   Dr. Liu also explains his idea about how to have the most fun with the eclipse, and why his favorite 2017 eclipse photo isn't a masterpiece.   If you're a fan of the LIUniverse, you know we love questions. At Dr. Liu's recent public talk at the College of Staten Island, he fielded live questions from the audience which we've included here. The first is about a comet called 12P Pons-Brooks that you can spot in the direction of the sun during the eclipse, perhaps just on the edge of visibility with your unaided eye.   The next question is about how we are able to predict eclipses so far in advance. Allen explains how the Babylonians used Lunar eclipses (or “Blood Moons”) as the key to predict Solar eclipses. Allen also adds his own calculations about where else in the solar system you can see a total eclipse – it's often said that the Earth is the only planet where total eclipses happen, but that might only be partially correct. Also, find out where you'd need to park a spaceship to create your own eclipse whenever you want!   Our last question ponders why the Sun throws out such large and bright flares and coronal streamers which become visible as fiery red and ghostly white spikes coming from the Sun during an eclipse. The answer explains how the Sun is like a pot of boiling water, with some fun science terms thrown in for flavor! Can you say “magnetohydrodynamics” three times fast? We conclude the discussion with a little more Solar physics: how we've recently sent a space probe into those very same coronal streamers, and how the Sun is nearing the peak of its 11 year cycle, offering some bonus chances to test out your eclipse glasses.   The LIUniverse wants to help you have the best, safest, and most informed experience for the celestial display of the decade. We hope you enjoy this episode. Please support us on Patreon.   How to measure the Moon's size.   Smarter Every Day's ISS video.    Credits for Images Used in Episode – Baily's beads, 2017 total solar eclipse – NASA/Aubrey Gemignani, Public Domain – Diamond ring, 2017 total solar eclipse – NASA/Aubrey Gemignani, Public Domain – The ISS in front of 2017 eclipse – NASA/Bill Ingalls, CC BY 2.0 – Comet 12P Pons-Brooks – Nielander, Public Domain – A Total Lunar Eclipse in January 2019 – Giuseppe Donatiello, Public domain – Phobos in front of the Sun (from Perseverance rover) – NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/SSI, Public Domain – Jupiter and Galilean Moons (photos combined) – NASA/JPL/DLR, Public Domain – The bubbling surface of the Sun – NSO/NSF/AURA, CC BY 4.0 – Solar Flare seen from Skylab in 1973 – NASA, Skylab 4 crew, Public Domain – Coronal streamers seen by Parker Solar Probe – NASA, Public Domain – The giant sunspot in Feb. 2024 – NASA SOHO space probe, Public Domain   #TheLIUniverse #CharlesLiu #AllenLiu #SciencePodcast #AstronomyPodcast #TotalSolarEclipse #GreatAmericanEclipse #eclipse #sunspot #coronalstreamer #solarflare #Sun #Comet12PPonsBrooks #Baily'sbeads #Diamondring #magnetohydrodynamics #Jupiter #GalileanMoons #Moon

Back for some SCIENCE SH*T this week! This segment is where we break down some science questions that are either audience submitted or some of our favorite things. J.Daae goes solo this episode and talks about his favorite planet.. well their moons... IO, EUROPA, GANYMEDE, & CALLISTO! Jupiter has over 80 moons but she has 4 special moons that dwarf the others, and also our own! I'm going through each mini world and explain why each one is so special and sexy! Every Wednesday we rotate between 3 segments called: Science Sh*t, Thotful Moment and our Double Feature! But every Saturday we recap & review… Avatar: The Last Airbender! Cheerio! —————————————————— FOLLOW US on INSTAGRAM @HomoInTraining Find us on Facebook! LIKE & FOLLOW our page! EMAIL us your science queeries!: HomoInTrainingPodcast@gmail.com —————————————————— Music Credit: Jazzy Abstract Beat by Coma-Media —————————————————— --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/homointraining/message

  (In a week or two...) WATCH this on YouTube LISTEN as a podcast on Podbean, Stitcher, or iTunes Social Media: @mrwebbpv on Twitter and Instagram @pvplanetarium on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram   2022 is the summer of morning planets!  Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and Venus are all quite prominent, with Mercury stopping by in June.  Throughout the summer, get up early to see the weeks where the Moon drives by the planets, and maybe catch a few meteors in August, as some of the planets return to the evening skies.          Welcome to Observing With Webb, where a high school astronomy teacher tells you what you're looking at, why it's so cool, and what you should check out later this month…at night.    Naked-eye PLANETS Sunset – only in August Mercury – All of August, look W right after sunset and you might be able to catch Mercury less than 10˚ above the horizon, the first “star” appearing at dusk in that direction. Saturn – The beginning of the ringed planet's nightfall appearance schedule is August. August 1st it rises at 9:30pm in the ESE, and is already up in the SE about 10˚ above the horizon at month's end. Throughout the night – Saturn & Jupiter – about 45˚ apart Saturn – Saturn starts rising before midnight in the SE in July and August, and will be visible into the mornings all summer off in the SW. Jupiter – Jupiter starts rising before midnight in the SE around mid-July, and will be visible into the morning all summer off toward the South. Morning – Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn ALL SUMMER The basic setup for the 3 months is, from left to right, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, all easily visible in the morning sky.  They start June within 70˚ of each other from East to South, ending August with Venus and Saturn on complete opposite sides of the sky.   How far apart are they from each other?  Below are the measurements between each planet in the lineup, on the 1st of each month. June 1:   Venus – 28˚ – Mars –   2˚ – Jupiter – 38˚ – Saturn Mercury – joins the party for much of June, getting to within 10˚ of Venus mid-month. Just look down and to the left of Venus. July 1:   Venus – 42˚ – Mars – 20˚ – Jupiter – 43˚ – Saturn August 1: Venus – 60˚ – Mars – 40˚ – Jupiter – 45˚ – Saturn August 31: Venus – 77˚ – Mars – 60˚ – Jupiter – 46˚ – Saturn Venus (E) – will be consistently about 10˚ above the Eastern horizon and hard to miss. As the brightest object in the morning sky, it will blaze as a “morning star”. Mars – Reddish Mars starts right next to Jupiter, but Jupiter moves away, while Mars creeps ever closer to Taurus throughout the summer, ending up between the V of Taurus and the Pleiades by August 31st. Jupiter ­– Hanging out around Pisces, be sure to find the Galilean Moons, notice their motion day by day, or even hour by hour, or even look up when to see one of its moon's shadows transits the planet. Saturn – Hanging out in the corner of Capricornus, find a friend with a telescope and stare at its rings, made up of rocks and dust the size of pebbles to the size of a car.   EVENTS Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset) First Quarter Moon – June 7th/July 6th/August 5th (Visible until midnight) Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset) Full Moon – June 14th/July 13th/August 11th (Visible all night) Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night) Last Quarter Moon – June 20th/July 20th/August 19th (Visible midnight into the morning) Morning Crescents (look East in the AM) New Moon – June 28th/July 28th/August 27th (darkest skies)   June 1st – CONJUNCTION – Jupiter, Mars –  Jupiter is less than 2˚ away from Mars in the ESE.  You can start seeing them after 3am. June 17th - 27th – June's Lunar Close Encounters – Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus – The Moon joins the sunrise planet party, starting near Saturn on the 17th and ending to the left of Mercury on the 27th. June 21st – Summer Solstice – This is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.  There's a bit of explanation as to why here. July 15th – 16th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Saturn –  The Moon is down and to the right of Saturn on the 15th, and down and to the left of Saturn on the 16th.  Visible starting 10:45pm due SE. July 19th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Jupiter –  The Moon is down and to the left of Jupiter by just 4˚.  Visible starting 12:30am due East. July 21st – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Mars –  The Moon is just 3˚ to the right of Mars.  Visible starting 1:15am due East. July 26th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Venus – A wonderfully thin crescent Moon will be just 4˚ above bright Venus.  Visible starting 4:15am due East. August 11th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Saturn –  The Full Moon is just 5˚ below Saturn. Visible after sunset in the SE. August 11th – 12th – Perseid Meteor Shower – Not a great year for the Perseids, given the very full Moon.  In decent skies, you could watch 60 meteors per hour, and you should be able to see some very bright ones here and there the week before and after.  However, the light pollution from the Moon will interfere with many of them, as well as your night vision.  But, that doesn't mean you should give up.  You never know when a really bright one will light up the sky. Remember, you're seeing the bits of dust left over from Comet Swift-Tuttle burning up as they crash into the atmosphere at 37 miles per second. Some advice for watching:     Find a dark location and lie down in a reclining chair or hammock     Look toward Perseus (In the NE, rises throughout the night until sunrise where it will be almost directly above.)  That is where the radiant is - where the meteors will appear to be coming from.     The strategy to observe this year is to get out there whenever you can, but the later you stay up, the more you'll see, since the radiant will be higher.  The shower is usually technically active from mid-July to late August, so you may see some Perseids in the days leading up to and after the peak as well.  Check the weather to see if the skies will be clear Adapt your eyes to the dark by staying away from light sources or using a red light if you need to look at a star chart or not trip over something.  If you're feeling extra nerdy, do a scientific meteor count (S&T and IMO) August 15th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Jupiter –  The Moon is to the right of Jupiter by just 5˚.  Visible starting 10:30pm due East. August 18th  – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Mars –  The Moon is just 3˚ above of Mars.  Visible starting midnight on the 18th due East. August 25th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Venus – A very thin crescent Moon will be just 7˚ above bright Venus.  Visible starting 5:20am due East.   CONSTELLATIONS Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out. After Dinner, Before Bed: Spring Constellations: Big Dipper, Bootes, Virgo, Corona Borealis, Hercules – Gaze almost vertically as you face the NW, and you'll easily find the Big Dipper: seven very bright stars that form a spoon shape. Now if you take the handle of the Dipper, follow its curve to the next bright star you see, about 20˚ away, which is Arcturus. “Follow the arc to Arcturus.” That's the brightest star in Bootes, which looks like a kite. Take that same curve, and follow it about another 20˚ to “speed on to Spica”, the brightest star in Virgo, one of my favorite constellations, since it reminds me of the Dickinson Mermaid.  Now go back to Bootes, and just to the left of Bootes are seven stars that form the northern crown Corona Borealis, which looks more like a small bowl or a “C” in the sky. Continue a little further to the left and you'll find the keystone asterism which is part of the constellation Hercules. Extra Challenge! Look for M13, the Hercules Cluster in between two of Hercules' “keystone” stars.  It known as the best globular cluster in the northern skies.  It will be a fuzzy spot in binoculars and will be even cooler through a telescope Summer Constellations: Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila – Look pretty much straight above you, and find the brightest star up there. You'll notice a parallelogram attached to it. This is the brightest star Vega, part of the constellation Lyra, the harp. Directly above you will be Cygnus the Swan, with its brightest star Deneb. It will look like a large cross, or if you look out a little further, a swan flying above you. Below Cygnus and Lyra is the third constellation of the Summer Triangle, Aquila the Eagle, with its brightest star Altair. The three bright stars in this one can be easily confused for Orion's belt, given their similar size, however they are not in line as straight, and are part of a bigger diamond shape.  Use a star chart to find small Delphinus and Sagitta in the area as well. Before Work: Pegasus, Andromeda – Look directly south and most of the way up the sky and you'll find the very big and almost perfect square of Pegasus, the winged horse. Now if you look to the top left of the square, you'll see three pairs of stars creating a neat double curve to the left and up from that corner star. That is Andromeda. If you have a little extra time, find the middle pair of stars, connect them with a line, and move toward the inside of the curve about the same distance as those stars are apart. There you'll find the Andromeda Galaxy, which will be just a small faint fuzzy with your naked eye. The cool part is that you are looking at billions of stars that are 2.9 million light years away, that spread out about 150,000 light years across.   Don't forget this podcast is found on my Podbean page, Stitcher, and iTunes.  There's also a video version on my YouTube Channel and I can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @mrwebbpv. The Pequea Valley Planetarium and its events and updates are on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as @pvplanetarium.    

How did Uranus get its name? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice explain all the things you thought you knew about the names of the planets and moons in our solar system, the formation of the moon, and the constellations.NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://www.startalkradio.net/show/things-you-thought-you-knew-a-constellation-prize/Thanks to our Patrons David Peterson, Gregory Strakos, Dr. G, Michael Loyd, Bobby G Ragan, raven williams, and Sofiane Shrekky for supporting us this week.Photo Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXO/University College London/W. Dunn et al; Optical: W.M. Keck Observatory

Sleep Encyclopedia is designed to help those who struggle to fall asleep within the first thirty minutes to an hour each night, but is also perfect for an afternoon nap, a long car ride (unless you're the driver of course), or a particularly scholarly house party. Sleep Encyclopedia is brought to you by Podmany, and narrated by Trevor Youtz.Links:https://podmany.comhttps://www.facebook.com/Podmany-107865584350865/https://twitter.com/podmanyhttps://www.instagram.com/podmany/https://twitter.com/TrevorYoutz

Feb 13th, 1633, Galileo was charged with Heresy against the Catholic Church  for standing by claims that the Earth orbits the Sun.  88 years later, has the way humans handle the court of opinions changed much?  This episode, learn the history and the sociology.  Then, Del over corrects himself while throwing down glass after glass of bourbon, and both Dutch & Del discuss their experiences with receiving Covid Vaccines.With No Due Respect S03E06 (Galileo, Heresy & the Human Condition)SHOW NOTES:Galileo GalileiGalileo Pendulum ExperimentGalileo TelescopeGalileo - "Starry Messenger"Galileo sketch of Medician StarsGalilean MoonsClaudius Ptolemaeus - PtolemyPtolemy - Geocentric ModelNicolaus CopernicusCopernicus HeliocentrismGalileo 1615 letter to GranDuchessa Di ToscanaPope Paul VRobert BellarmineGalileo's "Dialogo"Pope Urban VIII - Maffeo BarberiniStowe VermontPhil Scott - Governor of VermontStephen Hawking "On The Shoulders of Giants"St. Valentine

Join us for this week’s Planetary Pandemonium as host Beth Johnson covers some of the planetary science news for the week, including metal hydrogen (WHAT), Galilean moons (IO), and a newly discovered asteroid, courtesy of a citizen scientist (WOW). Plus an update on Arecibo Observatory.

It's Cosmic Coffee Time's first birthday, and what better way to celebrate than with a quadruple episode exploring the four Galilean moons of Jupiter. Explore the vastly different landscapes of four totally unique and fascinating bodies. What are they really like? And check out how unique they all are. Get comfy, grab a coffee in your favourite reusable cup, and check it out. We might add a slice of birthday cake too. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter for some special content twitter.com/CosmicCoffTime You can request a topic for the show! Email it to cosmiccoffeetime@gmail.com

In this inaugural episode of the Board Game Squad, Paul and Adam talk about the games that they have been playing, Kickstarters that caught their eye, and some news from the world of tabletop gaming. They go into detail and discuss at length Vital Lacerda’s "Escape Plan" recently published by Eagle Gryphon Games. There are also some antics of board gaming themed "Would you rather" that you don’t want to miss! 01:21 Caverna: The Cave Farmers 02:44 In Front of the Elevators 04:07 Carcassonne: The Castle 06:45 Irish Gauge 07:36 Foothills 09:20 Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon 11:41 City of the Big Shoulders 13:13 Pipeline 14:57 Hansa Teutonica 17:15 Spire's End 18:22 The Search For Planet X 19:08 Clash of Minds: Holmes vs Moriarty 19:46 Legacies 20:28 Galilean Moons 21:22 South Park and Board Games 24:55 After School Dice Club 26:40 Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion 30:37 Chad Jensen 31:17 Francis Tresham 31:42 Grey Fox Games and Reavers of Midgard Kickstarter Controversy 34:16 Vital Lacerda's Escape Plan 54:06 Board Game "Would You Rather"? Be sure to visit us at https://boardgamesquad.com/podcast. Email us at podcast@boardgamesquad.com! We want to hear from you. Ask us questions, let us know what we got wrong, and let us know what you have been playing lately so we can look into and review your favorite games as well!

Today, astronomers announced the discovery of 12 new moons around Jupiter. Inverse writer Matthew Phelan sat down with the Carnegie Institute’s Scott S. Sheppard who led the team that located the Jovian moons to tell us what this means for our solar systems and why one of the moons is especially odd. Two of the new dozen were uncovered in the spring of 2017 by Sheppard’s team bringing Jupiter’s moon count to 69 (nice), which means we now know there are 79 moons orbiting Jupiter. Questions Include: How did we find these new Jovian moons and why was it a serendipitous finding? What is the criteria that determines whether or not an object is a moon? How many new moons around Jupiter did we find? How do we detect new moons? What are Trojan asteroids? What are prograde and retrograde moons? What is this new “oddball” moon Valetudo and why is it different? Will there be more moons discovered around Jupiter? Is there a minimum size for a moon? What do retrograde and prograde objects tell us about the formation of our solar system? How do moons in our solar system get their names?Follow ‘I Need My Space’ on Social Media:Twitter: @INeedMySpacePodInstagram: @INeedMySpacePodFB Group: I Need My Space PodTo continue the conversation from this episode, use the hashtag #INeedMySpaceFollow Dr. Scott S. Sheppard on the Web:https://carnegiescience.edu/scientist/scott-sheppardhttps://sites.google.com/carnegiescience.edu/sheppard/home?authuser=0 About Inverse:Inverse sparks curiosity about the future. We explore the science of anything, innovations that shape tomorrow and ideas that stretch our minds. Our goal is to motivate the next generation to build a better world.Credits:‘I Need My Space’ is an Inverse production hosted by Steve Ward, produced by Sam Riddell, and executive produced by Hannah Margaret Allen and Weston Green. This episode was also produced and hosted by Matthew Phelan. Our intro and outro music was created by Andrew Olivares. Steve: @stevejohnhenrywAndrew: https://soundcloud.com/andrewoOther Topics Discussed Include: Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, The Jupiter Trojans, The Kuiper Belt, The Galilean Moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Himalia, Valetudo

Welcome: Bobak Ferdowsi   Who wants to be an astronaut? Well, there’s an app for that! Created by Finnish startup Space Nation, the Space Nation Navigator mobile app includes boot camp-style fitness workouts, exams, and even a story-based adventure element. “These are designed to test and train not just users’ physical abilities, but also their cognitive and social skills — such as problem-solving or managing a crisis.” As an astronaut in training, you can collect points and reach increasingly difficult levels, with the potential of winning prizes at certain stages of the program. After three 12-week cycles, somewhere around 100 trainees from all over the world will be selected to participate in a real-life training camp. Of those selected, 12 will then be invited to participate in a more intensive 10-week astronaut training camp in Iceland, which will be filmed and broadcast. The winning contender will get a free trip to the cosmos!   Congratulations RocketLab and Welcome to the Space Race! RocketLab has completed 2 successful test launches of it’s Electron Rocket and has a plan to launch once a month by the end of 2018. The Electron Rocket can carry 150kg and only costs $5 million, while SpaceX’s Falcon 9 can launch 22,800 kg for $62 million. RocketLab will revolutionize the small-satallite rocket industry. Founder Peter Beck says, “But now, the payoff will come. With no other launch providers anywhere close, the remote Mahia site [in New Zealand] has no range issues. And the company has a license to launch as frequently as every 72 hours for the next 30 years. "This is absolutely critical for our business strategy,"   NASA’s newest and most exciting missions, but first some background Where the is water there is life. About 71 percent of Earth’s surface is covered by water. With over 326 million trillion gallons of water on Earth, our oceans contain about 96.5 percent of all the planet’s water. Less than 3 percent of all water on Earth is actually okay to drink. But are we alone? Billions of years ago, Venus may have been the first planet in our solar system with an ocean. Venus doesn’t have a strong global magnetic field like Earth, which helps to protect our atmosphere. AND a runaway greenhouse effect raised temperatures enough to boil off all of the water, which was carried into space by solar wind. Mars used to also be more Earth-like, with a thick atmosphere, plenty of water, and oceans as big as ours. Also billions of years ago however, Mars lost its protective magnetic field, leaving it vulnerable solar wind. Scientists estimate that Mars has lost approximately 87 percent of the water it had all of that time ago. For those of your wondering, Solar winds happen when the corona, or the sun's outer layer, reaches temperatures of up to 2 million degrees Fahrenheit. At this level, the sun's gravity can't hold on to the rapidly moving particles, and it streams away from the star. If the material carried by the solar wind reached a planet's surface, its radiation would do severe damage to any life that might exist. Earth's magnetic field serves as a shield, redirecting the material around the planet so that it streams beyond it.   Even today, Earth isn’t the only ocean world in our solar system. Jupiter’s Moons Ganymede (largest Moon in our Solar System) Callisto Saturn’s Moon’s Enceladus Titan Mimas (MYE-mus) Neptune’s Moon Triton (possible) Dwarf Planet Pluto   All these being said, there is one that stands out above the rest, enough so that NASA is sending a spacecraft there in the 2020s. This is Jupiter’s Moon, Europa, soon to be joined by NASA’s Europa Clipper. Europa is currently thought to be the most likely place in our solar system to find life…. But why you might ask? Water. Scientists think that below its icy surface, lies an extremely salty ocean. The ultimate aim of Europa Clipper is to determine if Europa is habitable, possessing all three of the ingredients necessary for life: liquid water, chemical ingredients, and energy sources sufficient to enable biology. However, because of the pushing and pulling effects that Jupiter’s gravity has on Europa’s interior, it is like a hotbed of radiation. Meaning, it may be extremely dangerous for spacecraft remain there for too long long, let alone humans. Due to this radiation, the Europa Clipper won’t actually orbit Europa itself, but it will actually orbit Jupiter, passing really close to Europa every 2 weeks about 45 times during the mission, rangin from 1700 miles to 16 miles above the surface. Think of it like running through sprinklers. Claudia Alexander (Project Manager for the Galileo Mission) says to imagine that the water is radiation. As kids you would start from afar, then run through and leave quickly, only to come back around for another run. During each flyby, the Europa Clipper will image the Europa's icy surface, find out what it’s made of and figure out what is inside that huge icy shell. Why? Why go there?   NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observed water vapor above the south polar region of Europa in 2012, providing potential evidence of water plumes. If these plumes actually exist, they will confirm a subsurface ocean. And flying through the plumes will allow us to learn its chemical makeup Helps address the question: Are we alone in the universe? The Europa clipper with be fully fitted with a super nice camera, an ice-penetrating radar that will help determine the depth of the icy shell, and other instruments to determine the strength of Europa’s Magnetic field, how salty the oceans are, and search for water particles in the atmosphere.   Fun Facts from theplanets.org “Europa is the sixth closest moon of Jupiter and is the smallest of the Galilean moons discovered by Galileo. The other Galilean moons are Io, Ganymede and Callisto. Even though it is the smallest of the Galilean moons, Europa is still the sixth largest of the 181 moons in the solar system.” “Europa was officially discovered on January 8, 1610 but Galileo may have actually discovered the moon the day before. He was using a low-powered telescope and couldn’t actually distinguish Europa from the other Galilean moon Io until the next day.” “The discovery of Europa and the other Galilean Moons led to the discovery of a sun-centered solar system.” “Europa is the smoothest object in the Solar System.” “Europa is about 4.5 Billion years old, but its icy shell is only 20-180 million years old.” “Radiation on Europa is strong enough to kill a human in one day.” “One day on Europa lasts as long as a year - 3.5 Earth days.” “Europa is tidally locked to Jupiter.”  

Of all the moons of Jupiter, Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io tantalize us the most. These alien worlds of ice, fire, desolation and hidden oceans tantalize us with their possibility for extraterrestrial life and human exploration of the outer solar system. Join Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick for a mind bending exploration of the great gas giant's Galilean Moons. (Originally published April 26, 2016) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Of all the moons of Jupiter, Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io tantalize us the most. These alien worlds of ice, fire, desolation and hidden oceans tantalize us with their possibility for extraterrestrial life and human exploration of the outer solar system. Join Robert and Joe for a mind bending exploration of the great gas giant's Galilean Moons. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers