Category Archives: Moons

Volcanic Io

Volcanoes are one of the coolest geographical features of Earth (in my opinion), but volcanoes outside of our world are even cooler. Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active world in our solar system – in other words, it is FULL of volcanic awesome-ness. Io’s volcanic activity produces HUGE volcanic plumes. To give some […] Continue reading

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Io

Io is Jupiter’s third largest moon. What is notable about Io is that it is the most geologically active body in the entire Solar System. It is extremely volcanic, and is the only body other than Earth that we  have observed with active volcanism. The volcanic activity occurs because Io is greatly affected by tides […] Continue reading

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The Possibility of Life on Enceladus

One question that still excites both amateur and professional astronomers is the possibility of life on other worlds. Certain important elements, however, must be present in order for organic life to exist. Enceladus, one of Saturn’s icy moons, has an underground ocean that may be a source of life, either sometime in the ancient past […] Continue reading

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The Possibility of Life on Enceladus

One question that still excites both amateur and professional astronomers is the possibility of life on other worlds. Certain important elements, however, must be present in order for organic life to exist. Enceladus, one of Saturn’s icy moons, has an underground ocean that may be a source of life, either sometime in the ancient past …

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The Solar Shepherds

Rings. It’s what many senior girls are looking for right now, just as graduation approaches. Spring brings the rings, right? The giant planets, however, sport perhaps the most breathtaking rings of all. What many won’t notice about rings of giant planets, such as Saturn, are its imperfections. The darker regions of the rings do not […] Continue reading

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Jupiter’s Less Popular Moons

Io, Europa, Ganymede and Castillo get a lot of love, but the 63 other members of Jupiter’s posse are often overlooked. This NASA webpage provides in-depth information about each of Jupiter’s 67 moons. 50 of them are official moons and have names to reflect that status. However, the other 17 are mere “Provisional Moons,” which […] Continue reading

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The moon of Europa, or your practical guide to ice skating in space

Do you love astronomy? Do you also love ice skating? (I’m looking at you, Dr. G..) What if I told you that you could have the best of both worlds? You can(!), albeit approximately 4.2 AU away from Earth. Enter Europa, Jupiter’s icy sixth (both largest and closest) moon. Europa is an extremely young moon despite being […] Continue reading

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Jovian Moons…Alien Life?

One question that all humans are curious to find the answer to is: Are we alone in this universe? Based on pure numbers, it is highly probable that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Despite this high likelihood for extraterrestrial … Continue reading Continue reading

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Out of this World Symbols

Astronomers, like all scientists, love their symbols. Why spend ages written out full text when shorthand will do? Not only  are the symbols for the planets convenient, they also have interesting stories behind them that tie into the planet’s history. Sun: The symbol for the sun is a circular shield with a dot in the […] Continue reading

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Why do we have tides?

Today I want to talk about tides! Above is this video of Clovelly, England and the drastic tide that they experience day in and day out, especially when it is spring tide, meaning the moon and sun’s tidal forces line up to create even more drastic tidal forces. What is amazing about that video is […] Continue reading

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