Category Archives: Moons

Jupiter’s Watery Moon

Recent evidence has shown that Jupiter’s largest moon (and the largest moon in our solar system), Ganymede, has a massive ocean lying underneath a thick layer of ice. In fact, it’s believed to have more water than all of Earth! Ganymede, which is just slightly larger than the planet Mercury, has long been suspected of […] Continue reading

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Time to Understand the Tides

Even though I am from Colorado, I have to admit that I am more of a beach person than a mountain person, and a fascination with the tides has always been inherent in my love for the beach. However, until reading Chapter 4 of the textbook, I had never understood exactly why or how the […] Continue reading

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Jupiter’s Galilean Moons

Following our extensive discussion in class about the effects our Moon and the Earth have on each other (tides, speed of rotation) I became very curious about other planets and how they interact with their moons, specifically, Jupiter because it has a whopping 63 moons orbiting it. However, the main moons we ever really hear about […] Continue reading

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Blog Post #2: What’s up with harvest moons?

When the moon seems to be bigger than usual and have an orange tint, we call it “The Harvest Moon”. …

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Hugh van Heesewijk 2014-04-29 14:12:20

  Throughout the semester we have learned the ins and outs of many topics. We have learned topics ranging from the formation of atmospheres to the formation of solar systems. However, I feel that the topics that I have most benefitted from have been the ones that I can see every day. I love being able […] Continue reading

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Pluto’s moons

There has been much debate on the status of Pluto’s classification. It is now believed to be a “dwarf planet”. One reason that people are challenging this is because of its existence of moons and a moon system. This picture from NASA shows the layout of Pluto and its surrounding bodies .  Source There are […] Continue reading

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Io is Outrageously Hot

Io is known for being extremely volcanic. By just looking at images of Jupiter’s closest moon you can assume that this is a particularly hot world. Io’s scalding heat is caused by the extreme tidal forces that act upon it. Now when we compare the heat flow on Io to the heat flow on Earth it is possible to […] Continue reading

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“Games without rules have many possible outcomes.” – Andrew Knoll, Harvard

On a slightly more positive note to my other post about my reservations to the search for extraterrestrial life, NASA has recently confirmed that Saturn’s moon, Enceladus has been hiding a Lake Superior-sized ocean. It was discovered using data gathered by the Cassini spacecraft, and while suspicions have been around for a while, it has […] Continue reading

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Life on Moons

<Image for this post taken from here> The Galilean moons, especially Europa, have been objects of interest for decades for scientists interested in finding life in our own solar system. Europa’s relatively young surface is, for the most part, devoid of the pockmarked landscapes that signify a geologically inactive world, meaning that there must be … Continue reading Life on Moons Continue reading

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Life on Europa?

Europa is proposed to be a top contender in the possibility of having extraterrestrial life. Under the ice, the oceans …

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