Planetary Peek-a-Boo
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has caught an image of Jupiter's moon Ganymede just before it ducks behind the giant planet. Ganymede completes an orbit around Jupiter every seven days. Because Ganymede's orbit is tilted nearly edge-on to Earth, it routinely can be seen passing in front of and disappearing behind its giant host, only to reemerge later.
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Composed of rock and ice, Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system. It is even larger than the planet Mercury. But Ganymede looks like a dirty snowball next to Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. Jupiter is so big that only part of its southern hemisphere can be seen in this …
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Publication information:
Article title: Planetary Peek-a-Boo.
Contributors: Not available.
Journal title: Science Scope.
Volume: 32.
Issue: 6
Publication date: February 2009.
Page number: 12.
© 2009 National Science Teachers Association.
COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale Group.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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