Table of Contents
- 1 How many times longer does it take Europa to orbit Jupiter than Io?
- 2 Does Io move around Jupiter fast or slow?
- 3 How does Jupiter’s gravity affect Europa?
- 4 Is Europa tidally locked?
- 5 Why could Europa that is so far away from the warmth of the sun be habitable?
- 6 Who discovered Europa moon?
- 7 How are the tides on Europa related to Jupiter?
How many times longer does it take Europa to orbit Jupiter than Io?
Jupiter’s moons Io, Europa, and Ganymede are in what is called a resonance – every time Ganymede orbits Jupiter once, Europa orbits twice, and Io orbits four times.
Does Io move around Jupiter fast or slow?
Orbit and rotation It takes Io about 42.5 hours to complete one orbit around Jupiter (fast enough for its motion to be observed over a single night of observation).
How long does it take Europa to orbit Jupiter?
85 hours
Europa/Orbital period
Why does Io move so fast?
Io’s remarkable activity is the result of a tug-of-war between Jupiter’s powerful gravity and smaller but precisely timed pulls from two neighboring moons that orbit farther from Jupiter – Europa and Ganymede.
How does Jupiter’s gravity affect Europa?
When Europa is close to Jupiter in its orbit, Jupiter’s gravity pulls even harder on this side. When Europa is farther away, the pull is less strong. That means Europa is constantly stretching as it orbits Jupiter. Gravitational pulls from a couple of Jupiter’s other large moons, Io and Ganymede, tug on Europa, too.
Is Europa tidally locked?
Europa is tidally locked, so the same side faces Jupiter at all times. Size: Europa is 1,900 miles (3,100 km) in diameter, making it smaller than Earth’s moon, but larger than Pluto. It is the smallest of the Galilean moons.
How long does it take Io to orbit Jupiter?
42 hours
Io/Orbital period
Does Europa have a gravitational pull?
1.315 m/s²
Europa/Gravity
Why could Europa that is so far away from the warmth of the sun be habitable?
From fluctuations in Europa’s magnetic field that suggests a conductor of some sort, scientists also think there is an ocean deep beneath the surface of the moon. This ocean could contain some form of life. This possibility of extraterrestrial life is one of the reasons interest in Europa remains high.
Who discovered Europa moon?
Galileo Galilei
Simon Marius
Europa/Discoverers
When Galileo Galilei discovered Europa and Jupiter’s three other large moons — Io, Ganymede and Callisto — more than 400 years ago, he revolutionized humanity’s view of the universe. The discovery disproved the common belief that Earth was the center of all motion in the heavens.
Its orbital distance from Jupiter is 414,000 miles (670,900 km). It takes Europa three and a half Earth-days to orbit Jupiter. Europa is tidally locked, so the same side faces Jupiter at all times.
What kind of pull does Europa have on Jupiter?
That means Europa is constantly stretching as it orbits Jupiter. Gravitational pulls from a couple of Jupiter’s other large moons, Io and Ganymede, tug on Europa, too.
Is the orbit of Io the same as that of Jupiter?
Orbit and Rotation Although Io always points the same side toward Jupiter in its orbit around the giant planet, the large moons Europa and Ganymede perturb Io’s orbit into an irregularly elliptical one. Thus, in its widely varying distances from Jupiter, Io is subjected to tremendous tidal forces.
On Europa, tides are caused by the tremendous gravitational pull of Jupiter. This gravitational pull is also what holds Europa in orbit around Jupiter. Evidence from NASA’s Galileo mission suggested that there might be a liquid water ocean underneath Europa’s icy crust.