It’s easy to see why not much attention is paid to Callisto. For four hundred years,
Callisto appeared only as the fourth dot away when gazing at Jupiter through a telescope. It also
didn’t help Callisto gain attention by orbiting Jupiter. Jupiter may be one of the most intriguing
objects that astronomers have yet to study. Jupiter is the king of the planets. With its complex
bands and zones, Great Red Spot, and sheer size, Jupiter has captured our imaginations and has
pushed us to learn and explore all we can about it. Now, with our Pioneer, Voyager, and
especially Galileo spacecrafts, we have uncovered mysteries of Callisto that give our minds and
imaginations quite a workout.
John D. Anderson used Radio Doppler data collected by the Deep Space Network from
five encounters of the Galileo spacecraft with Callisto. From this data him and his team found
that Callisto has a mean radius of 2410.3 km, with no detectable deviation from sphericity. They
assembled this data measuring three principle axes, and all three axes were equal to the mean
radius with a realistic error of 1.5 km (Anderson et al., 2001). This places Callisto as the third
largest satellite in the Solar System, slightly smaller than Mercury, but 1330 km in radius larger
than Pluto.
Callisto does have an atmosphere. This is not comparable to the atmosphere of Titan or
any other planet with a significant atmosphere. Nonetheless, an off-limb scan of Callisto was
conducted by the Galileo near-infrared mapping spectrometer in hopes to detect a carbon dioxide
atmosphere. Airglow in the 4.26 μm carbon dioxide band was indeed observed up to 100 km
above the surface. This indicates the presence of a tenuous carbon dioxide atmosphere with
surface pressure o...
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JUNO is a NASA mission to the planet Jupiter. The Juno spacecraft is scheduled to launch aboard an Atlas V-551 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in Aug. 2011. (www.nasa.gov). It will take 5 years to reach Jupiter, arriving in July 2016. It will orbit Jupiter 33 times. The purpose of the mission is to explore Jupiter’s structure and atmosphere. The main aim of this mission is to understand how the planet Jupiter originated and thus help us understand the evolution of the gas giants. This knowledge will also reflect upon our understanding of the origins of the Universe. The spacecraft will be placed in a polar orbit to study the planet's composition, gravity field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere. Juno will also search to see whether the planet has a rocky core and investigate the amount of water present within the planet’s atmosphere. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA is managing the Juno mission for Dr. Scott Bolton of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. The spacecraft is being built by Lockheed Martin of Denver. Scientists from 5 countries ha...
Saturn, one of the four gas planets in the solar system, is no doubt the most mysterious. The puzzling questions about this extraordinary planet has had scientists wondering and researching since it was first discovered. Now that NASA has sent missions to Saturn, we are starting to understand more and more. Saturn is a unique planet because of its magnificent size, its rare atmosphere, and several rings unlike any other planet.
Neptune was discovered through a discrepancy in Uranus’s orbit. Uranus’s orbit was not moving how astronomers predicted it would. They could not find an elliptical orbit that fit Uranus’s trajectory. They therefore assumed that there had to be another planet that’s gravitational pull was effecting Uranus. Johann Galle was the first to find Neptune in 1846, even though many before him had mathematically predicted where this new planet would be. The planet was named Neptune and two astronomers who had predicted mathematically where it would be are credited with finding it not Galle.
Supernovas are accountable for the birth of new galaxies and stars, including the Milky Way and its planets. Jupiter is the center of many theories. One speculation considers Jupiter’s core to be solid diamond, or highly compressed carbon. Due to the abnormal mass of the planet, Jupiter has strange weather conditions that lead to large storms, including its Great Red Spot, an anti-cyclonic storm.
In summary, this paper will discuss the Kepler spacecraft, its mission, and the results of its mission. The Kepler mission has, thus far, provided invaluable information regarding extrasolar planets and systems. Although Kepler can no longer continue its primary mission, Second Light has presented researchers the opportunity to salvage Kepler’s functions and add to the set of data Kepler has already collected.
"Our Solar System: Galileo's Observations of the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and the Sun." Solar System Exploration: Science & Technology: Science Features: Our Solar System: Galileo's Observations of the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and the Sun. NASA, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Although Pluto was discovered in 1930, limited information on the distant planet delayed a realistic understanding of its characteristics. Today Pluto remains the only planet that has not been visited by a spacecraft, yet an increasing amount of information is unfolding about this peculiar planet. The uniqueness of Pluto's orbit, rotational relationship with its satellite, spin axis, and light variations all give the planet a certain appeal.
Redd, Nola T. "Space and NASA News – Universe and Deep Space Information | Space.com." Space.com. Space.com, 08 Mar. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
"Our Solar System: Galileo's Observations of the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and the Sun." Solar System Exploration: Science & Technology: Science Features: Our Solar System: Galileo's Observations of the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and the Sun. NASA, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. .
'A discovery so unexpected could only have singular circumstances, for it was not due to an astronomer and the marvelous telescope…was not the work of an optician; it is Mr. Herschel, a [German] musician, to whom we owe the knowledge of this seventh principal planet.' (Hunt, 35)
Galileo compliments Copernicus on his capability to limit himself from suddenly clarifying the developments of the planets in light of the visual proof that he can see without a telescope, and rather depending on the incentive to control his clarifications. He gives sufficient contentions for Copernicus' model of the close planetary system, having the Sun as the focal point of the nearby planetary group instead of the Earth, and even gives and contradicts counter opinions that I can just accept that how he feels would be the most widely recognized. Galileo clarifies how Copernicus' hypothesis is affirming when taking a gander at the planets in a way that darkens the power of the impressions of light from the sun radiated by the planet, plainly uncovering the planet's size. By utilizing a basic illustration, Galileo affirms Copernicus' hypothesis facilitate when he utilizes the hypothesis to delineate how the planets seem to move ahead, in reverse, then, forward again amid their going through the sky.
Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, has yet to be discovered as in depth as Juno will. NASA New Frontiers recently established the Juno Mission to observe Jupiter (Ionescu 1). The spacecraft is currently on route to Jupiter and it is set to arrive in 2016. Juno will orbit Jupiter thirty-three times total before shutting down (Ionescu 1). Juno will observe Jupiter with deeper observation than can be seen by a telescope. The Juno Spacecraft is a project made to discover Jupiter’s high winds, a possible water source, and the planetary structure.
This project for Earth Science proved to be quite engaging. At first, I thought that the project was going to be long and arduous, however, being able to choose my topic for the project actually helped in galvanizing interest in it. Through this project, I learned a whole lot about the Jovian planets that fascinated me when I was a child. From gargantuan Jupiter, ringed Saturn, peculiar Uranus, and stormy Neptune, I learned many facts that I couldn’t discover outside of Earth Science. I learned many facts like how the Jovian planets got their colors, and whether or not Gas Giants are solely made of gas. I enjoy the fact that we are able to choose what we want to research about, choosing what interests us the most. Thanks to this project, I feel that I know just a bit more about the vast amount of knowledge of our Universe.
Venus, the second planet closest to the Sun and Earth’s closest neighbor, is known for its many wonders and harsh conditions. Venus is possibly the first planet discovered by humans and is said to have been first discovered in 17 B.C. by Babylonian astronomers. Venus is the first planet to be explored by spacecraft although many of these attempts have proven unsuccessful. Fortunately, more than twenty of the spacecraft explorations been proven successful, and through those we have gained knowledge about this wonder of the night sky.
McDaid, Liam . "44 Common Misconceptions About Astronomy." Sacramento City College. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. .