Jupiters Rings Revealed
Explanation:
Why does Jupiter have rings?
Jupiter's rings
were discovered in 1979 by the passing
Voyager 1 spacecraft,
but their origin has always been a mystery.
Recent data from the
Galileo spacecraft currently orbiting
Jupiter now confirms that these rings were
created by
meteoroid impacts on
small nearby moons.
As a small meteoroid strikes tiny
Adrastea, for example, it will bore into the moon,
vaporize, and explode dirt and dust off into a
Jovian orbit.
Pictured above is an
eclipse of the Sun by Jupiter,
as viewed from Galileo. Small dust particles high in
Jupiter's atmosphere,
as well as the dust particles that compose the
rings,
can be seen by
reflected sunlight.
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.
