Ganymede: Moonquake World
Credit & Copyright: NASA,
Voyager,
Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton
Explanation:
Ganymede probably undergoes frequent ground shaking events not unlike
terrestrial earthquakes.
Ganymede, the largest moon of
Jupiter and the
Solar System,
has a thick outer coating of water ice. Passing Voyager spacecraft
found a large number of cracks and grooves in the ice so it is
thought that Ganymede, like the
Earth, has large shifting surface
masses called tectonic plates. Ganymede was discovered by
Galileo and
Marius in 1610, and is larger than the planets Mercury and Pluto. The
NASA spacecraft Galileo
is scheduled to arrive at Jupiter is December of 1995.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
