Ganymede: A Really Groovy Moon
Explanation:
Ganymede's surface is a wrinkled mess. As large ice-sheets shift on
the
moon's surface, parts of the surface buckle causing high ridges, deep
furrows, and parallel grooves.
This photo,
taken by the
Galileo
spacecraft
currently orbiting
Jupiter, was
released yesterday.
The large circular feature near the picture bottom is a large impact
crater. The impact that caused this large crater also caused the strange
dark ejecta seen to the crater's right. The Sun illuminates the scene from
the lower left. The
Galileo spacecraft
has also just discovered that
Ganymede
has a region of orbiting charged particles called a magnetosphere -
a first for any moon. How
Ganymede
is able to generate a
magnetosphere
is a mystery.
APOD's Archive of Galileo at Ganymede
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.
