Earth Sciences 1086F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: 951 Gaspra, Galilean Moons, Atmospheric Entry
4 Apr 2016
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Most senior member in the suns family! 3 x larger than the next largest planet, saturn! If it were hollow, more than one thousand earths could be squeezed inside its volume! The solar system can be thought two be composed of 2 main bodies: sun and jupiter: even then, jupiter only had 0. 001 times the mass of the sun! Normally the 4th brightest object in the sky! Another reason we know it is big is due to its satellites ying around quickly, and not ying off into space! Io is the innermost of the four galilean satellites: orbit is slightly larger than that of the moon, streaks around its orbit in 2 days! With the orbital period and radius of io we can calculate the mass of jupiter to be roughly 318 times that of earth! Has quite a beautiful haze caused by an ever-changing mask of many hues that blanket the real planet underneath!
