http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090920.html
2009 September 20
Ganymede Enhanced
Credit: Galileo Project,DLR,JPL,NASA
Explanation:
What does the largest moon in the Solar System look like?Ganymede,larger than evenMercury andPluto,has a surface speckled with bright young craters overlying a mixture ofolder, darker, more crateredterrain laced withgrooves and ridges.Like Earth's Moon,Ganymede keeps the same face towards its central planet, in this case Jupiter.In this historic anddetailed image mosaic taken by theGalileospacecraftthat orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003,the colors of this planet-sized moon have been enhanced toincrease surface contrasts.The violet shades extending from the top and bottom are likely dueto frost particles in Ganymede's polar regions.Possible future missions to Jupiter are being proposed that can searchEuropa andGanymede for deep oceans that may harbor elements thought important forsupporting life. |
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