Ganymede Archives

Illustration of key factors affecting subsurface ocean habitability and possible chemical evolution in icy moons Factors with question marks are still under debate. -- The Innovation via PubMed

Dynamic Controls On Subsurface Water Chemistry And Habitability On Icy Moons

by Keith CowingJune 23, 2026June 23, 2026

Icy moons are natural satellites whose surfaces contain a substantial fraction of frozen materials, most notably water ice.

This artist's impression shows radar waves from the NASA Goldstone Solar System Radar pinging one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa. The radar waves penetrate Europa’s icy surface before bouncing back to be collected by the NSF Green Bank Telescope on Earth. Credit: NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/P.Vosteen

Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Journal articles, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Radar Echoes From Europa Reveal Secrets Beneath the Ice

by Keith CowingJune 18, 2026June 18, 2026

A team of scientists has used NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar and the U.S. National Science Foundation Green Bank Telescope (NSF GBT) to carry out the most extensive radar study […]

Locations (yellow circles) of ROIs that include paterae, potential flows, and cryovolcanic candidate regions (K. Stephan et al. 2021a) on top of the global geological map of Ganymede from G. C. Collins et al. (2013). Mercator projection. -- The Planetary Science Journal

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Status Report

Potential Cryovolcanic Regions on Ganymede: A Priority Target for JUICE

by Keith CowingJune 7, 2026June 26, 2026

One of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission goals of the European Space Agency, launched in 2023 April, is the detailed characterization of Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon and a […]

(Left) TPD curves of SO2 deposited at 80 K on c-ASW (circles) for different coverages (1 ML, blue; 0.72 ML, red; 0.48 ML, green; 0.16 ML, magenta; and 0.07 ML, orange) in the submonolayer regime, with corresponding first-order fits (black lines). (Right) Associated adsorption energy distribution for each TPD curve. -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Callisto, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Temperature-programmed Desorption Of SO2 From Water Ice Surfaces: Adsorption Energy Distributions

by Keith CowingJune 5, 2026June 5, 2026

Context. Sulphur-bearing species play a key role in the chemical evolution of the interstellar medium and icy Solar System bodies such as the Jovian moons, yet the sulphur budget remains […]

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Electrical Properties of Icy World Oceans from Laboratory Measurements

by Keith CowingMay 25, 2026May 25, 2026

Many icy bodies in the Solar System are hypothesized to harbor subsurface liquid-water oceans, with Jupiter’s moon Europa among the most promising for astrobiology research. NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will […]

Astrogeology, Callisto, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Press Release

Ganymede Might Still Be Forming Its Metal Core Today

by Keith CowingMay 18, 2026May 18, 2026

Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system; at over 3,200 miles across, it is larger than the planet Mercury. It is also the only moon with […]

Graphical Abstract -- Ice grains emitted by the Saturnian moon Enceladus were sampled by Cassini’s Cosmic Dust Analyser (CDA) using impact ionization mass spectrometry. -- ACS Earth Space Chem

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Cryobiology, Dione, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Hyperion, Iapetus, Icy Worlds, Mimas, Oberon, Status Report, Titan

Quantum Chemical Insights into the Dissociation of Phenol: Shedding Light on Impact Ionization Mass Spectrometry for Icy Moon Exploration

by Keith CowingMay 11, 2026May 11, 2026

CDA revealed that Enceladus hosts a rich organic and inorganic chemical inventory in its subsurface ocean, hinting at its potential habitability. Analysis of fragmentation patterns with laser desorption experiments for […]

Numerical ocean-induction setup for Ganymede in a deep-ocean scenario with REM = 1.77 . Ganymede's internal structure is depicted, featuring the ice crust, the deep ocean with its simulated zonal flow, the internal ice layer, the silicate mantle, and the metallic core. Yellow tubes visualize the magnetic field lines. The bottom-right panel shows how magnetic field lines are sheared by the zonal (east–west) jet flow in the ocean (blue/red denote westward/eastward jets, respectively), thereby reflecting the secondary magnetic field induced by such dynamics. -- Geophysical Research Letters

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Motional Induction in Ganymede’s Ocean

by Keith CowingMay 10, 2026May 11, 2026

We investigate the magnetic signature of oceanic circulation in Ganymede’s subsurface ocean using kinematic induction modeling. Our approach couples zonal jet flows from rotating thermal convection simulations with magnetic field […]

Titan is an abode of NH3. (A) Titan captured by the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem. The thick atmosphere of Titan is visible by a haze across the surface and a lack of surface details. Saturn’s other moon, Tethys, is observed behind Titan. Image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute. (B) False-colour mosaic of Titan obtained by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer of Cassini. Colours correspond to atmospheric (red) and surface features (green and blue). The inset image indicates the possible occurrence of a cryovolcano on the surface. Cryovolcanic slurries of water, NH3, and methanol have been tentatively observed on the surface. Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Saturn, Status Report, Titan

Ammonia As A Parameter Shaping Habitability On Icy Moons

by Keith CowingMay 6, 2026May 6, 2026

The search for life now extends beyond the traditional habitable zone to include the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. These moons feature ice-covered surfaces overlying substantial oceans formed primarily […]

(A) Schematic of the ice growth apparatus. (B) Image of the ice growth apparatus shortly after the onset of an experiment. (C) The ~50-cm-thick Europa 2 ice column immediately after extraction. The column is placed upside down to reduce brine loss from the highly porous basal region of the ice. (D) Ice columns subsectioned into smaller, more easily workable pieces and scored at 2-cm intervals in preparation for vertical partitioning. (E) The scored subsections in (D) were cut using an electric band saw, and the 2-cm layers were placed into 500-ml high-density polyethylene amber Nalgene sample bottles. These samples were subsequently melted, filtered, and processed via IC, ICP-OES, and NDIR spectroscopy to acquire our ionic composition and ionic fractionation profiles. -- Science Advances via PubMed

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

As Above, Not So Below: Ion Fractionation In Planetary Analog Ices

by Keith CowingApril 25, 2026April 25, 2026

The geophysical evolution and astrobiological potential of ocean worlds are indelibly linked to the chemical compositions of their oceans and ice shells.