- March 13, 2015
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Ganymede -that of the Solar System’s largest moon harbors an ocean beneath its frozen surface.
This is what revealed new information from the Hubble telescope, which has been studying the movement of the lights in the auroras of this satellite of Jupiter.
The data are consistent with an ocean of a thickness of 100 km with a salt content of about 5 grams per liter of water. But it may as well be an ocean of only 10km, but with 10 times more salt
The presence of a mass water under the ice becomes Ganymede in a particularly interesting celestial object as it is an indication that could harbor life.
“The ocean can have a greater depth to 330km, a greater depth would not match the information (we have),” said Joachim Saur, leader Research at the University of Cologne in Germany.
“The information is consistent with an ocean of 100km thick with a salt content of about 5 grams per liter of water. But it may also be a Ocean only 10km, but with 10 times more salt. “
Magnetic Field
The Galileo mission of NASA suggested in the early years of the decade 2000 that the satellite had a hidden sea.
The Hubble data seem to confirm this suspicion.
With a diameter of about 5.300Km, Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System ..
On average delay seven days to orbit around Jupiter
Ganymede is also the only moon -of which will have to knowledge- has a magnetosphere: a region in which magnetic field deflects most of the solar wind thus forming a protective shield against high energy charged particles from the sun.
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