Lecture 39: The Moons of Jupiter

Jupiter has its own personal solar system in miniature of 63 known

moons. Most are tiny, irregular bodies that are a combination of

captured asteroids and comets, but it is the 4 largest, the giant

Galilean Moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, that is of greatest

interest to us in this lecture. Each is a fascinating world of its own,

with a unique history and properties: volcanically active Io, icy Europa

which may hide an ocean of liquid water beneath the surface, the grooved

terrain of Ganymede, and frozen dirty Callisto with the most ancient

surface of the four. Recorded 2007 Nov 19 in 1000 McPherson Lab on the

Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.