An Organic ocean on Jupiter's Moon europa? If you went by news coverage alone, you’d think there’s only one world in the solar system aside from Earth worth studying—and that, of course, is Mars. NASA’s Curiosity rover is inching its way across the Red Planet’s Gale Crater; the Opportunity rover has entered its tenth year of exploration in a region some 5,000 miles (8,000 km) away; and a new rover, named InSight, is on the schedule for a 2016 launch. Why all that attention? In a word, water. But another world in our Solar System doesn’t have to look to the past for its maritime days. Long before astronomers could know Europa’s composition for sure, they suspected that it might be covered in ice. (MORE: Voyager 1 at the Threshold of Forever) None of this meant Europa had the ingredients for life: you could keep a tank of sterile water warm and churning for 4.5 billion years and at the end, all you’d have would be the same tank of sterile water. (MORE: Did a Distant Solar System Send Life to Earth?)
Saturn Saturn's interior is probably composed of a core of iron, nickel and rock (silicon and oxygen compounds), surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium and an outer gaseous layer.[15] The planet exhibits a pale yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. Electrical current within the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to Saturn's planetary magnetic field, which is weaker than Earth's magnetic field but has a magnetic moment 580 times that of the Earth due to Saturn's larger body radius. Saturn's magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth the strength of Jupiter's.[16] The outer atmosphere is generally bland and lacking in contrast, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h (1,100 mph), faster than on Jupiter, but not as fast as those on Neptune.[17] Physical characteristics Composite image roughly comparing the sizes of Saturn and Earth Atmosphere
Orbit and rotation Jupiter l Jupiter facts, pictures and information. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and by far the largest. Jupiter is more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined (the mass of Jupiter is 318 times that of Earth). Planet Profile orbit: 778,330,000 km (5.20 AU) from Sundiameter: 142,984 km (equatorial)mass: 1.900e27 kg History of Jupiter Jupiter (a.k.a. Jupiter is the fourth brightest object in the sky (after the Sun, the Moon and Venus). Jupiter was first visited by Pioneer 10 in 1973 and later by Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2 and Ulysses. The gas planets do not have solid surfaces, their gaseous material simply gets denser with depth (the radii and diameters quoted for the planets are for levels corresponding to a pressure of 1 atmosphere). Jupiter is about 90% hydrogen and 10% helium (by numbers of atoms, 75/25% by mass) with traces of methane, water, ammonia and "rock". Our knowledge of the interior of Jupiter (and the other gas planets) is highly indirect and likely to remain so for some time. Jupiter's Rings
Mercury (planet) Mercury is gravitationally locked and rotates in a way that is unique in the Solar System. As seen relative to the fixed stars, it rotates exactly three times for every two revolutions[b] it makes around its orbit.[13] As seen from the Sun, in a frame of reference that rotates with the orbital motion, it appears to rotate only once every two Mercurian years. An observer on Mercury would therefore see only one day every two years. Because Mercury's orbit lies within Earth's orbit (as does Venus's), it can appear in Earth's sky in the morning or the evening, but not in the middle of the night. Internal structure Internal structure of Mercury: 1. Mercury's density can be used to infer details of its inner structure. Mercury's core has a higher iron content than that of any other major planet in the Solar System, and several theories have been proposed to explain this. Alternatively, Mercury may have formed from the solar nebula before the Sun's energy output had stabilized. Surface geology
Observation Jupiter, Jupiter Information Jovian Giant The most massive planet in our solar system, with four planet-size moons and many smaller satellites, Jupiter forms a kind of miniature solar system. Jupiter resembles a star in composition. In fact, if it had been about eighty times more massive, it would have become a star rather than a planet. On January 7, 1610, using his primitive telescope, astronomer Galileo Galilei saw four small "stars" near Jupiter. Galileo would be astonished at what we have learned about Jupiter and its moons in the last 30 years. Jupiter's appearance is a tapestry of beautiful colors and atmospheric features. Atmosphere The composition of Jupiter's atmosphere is similar to that of the sun—mostly hydrogen and helium. Jupiter's enormous magnetic field is nearly 20,000 times as powerful as Earth's. Discovered in 1979 by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, Jupiter's rings were a surprise: a flattened main ring and an inner cloudlike ring, called the halo, are both composed of small, dark particles.
Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune, and both are of different chemical composition than the larger gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. For this reason, astronomers sometimes place them in a separate category called "ice giants". Uranus's atmosphere, although similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's in its primary composition of hydrogen and helium, contains more "ices" such as water, ammonia, and methane, along with traces of hydrocarbons.[12] It is the coldest planetary atmosphere in the Solar System, with a minimum temperature of 49 K (−224.2 °C), and has a complex, layered cloud structure, with water thought to make up the lowest clouds, and methane the uppermost layer of clouds.[12] In contrast, the interior of Uranus is mainly composed of ices and rock.[11] History Discovery The power I had on when I first saw the comet was 227. Naming Name Axial tilt
Possibility of life Interesting Facts About Jupiter Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter Think you know everything about Jupiter? Think again. Here are a set of 10 facts about Jupiter. 1. No, it’s really massive. If Jupiter got any more massive, it would actually get smaller. 2. Astronomers call Jupiter a failed star, but that’s not really appropriate. 3. For all its size and mass, Jupiter sure moves quickly. 4. That’s right, all those beautiful whirling clouds and storms you see on Jupiter are only about 50 km thick. 5. The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is one of its most familiar features. 6. The rings around Jupiter were the third set of rings discovered in the Solar System, after Saturn (of course) and Uranus. 7. Compasses would really work on Jupiter. 8. At the time that I’m writing this, Jupiter has a total of 63 named satellites. 9. Start counting. 10. Jupiter is the third brightest object in the Solar System, after Venus and the Moon. Reference:NASA
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets. It is sometimes referred to as the world or the Blue Planet.[23] Earth formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago, and life appeared on its surface within its first billion years.[24] Earth's biosphere then significantly altered the atmospheric and other basic physical conditions, which enabled the proliferation of organisms as well as the formation of the ozone layer, which together with Earth's magnetic field blocked harmful solar radiation, and permitted formerly ocean-confined life to move safely to land.[25] The physical properties of the Earth, as well as its geological history and orbit, have allowed life to persist. Name and etymology In general English usage, the name earth can be capitalized or spelled in lowercase interchangeably, either when used absolutely or prefixed with "the" (i.e. Heat
Mythology