Surviving rapid inward orbital migration is a crucial aspect of formation models for the Jupiter's Galilean moons. (Source)

Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Io, Jupiter, Status Report

Not Just Gas: How Solid-Driven Torques Shaped the Migration of the Galilean Moons

by Keith CowingDecember 31, 2025December 31, 2025

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the orbital migration of the Galilean moons by incorporating self-consistent solid dynamics in circumjovian disk models. We perform two-fluid simulations using […]

[RIGHT Io [LEFT] Europa -- NASA JPL source

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Io, Jupiter, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

On The Divergent Evolution Of Io And Europa As Primordial Ocean Worlds

by Keith CowingDecember 22, 2025December 22, 2025

Galilean moons exhibit a decrease in bulk density with distance from Jupiter, which may reflect differences in evolutionary paths and water loss.

Global distribution of the four major nonwater species in Europa’s surface ice with reaction rate coefficients scaled down by a factor of 10. (a) H2SO4. (b) SO2. (c) H2O2. (d) O2. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Status Report

Global Distribution Of The Key Species on the Surface of Europa

by Keith CowingNovember 13, 2025November 13, 2025

The icy surface of Europa is continuously bombarded by ions and electrons from Jupiter’s magnetosphere.

The four giant planets as seen by Hubble WFC3/UVIS at different near-UV wavelengths, and processed by Judy Schmidt (note - these images are not shown to scale). The Jupiter and Saturn images are constructed from F343N (red), F275W (green), and F225 (blue), whereas a lack of observations for Uranus and Neptune required us to shift to redder wavelengths: F547M (red), F467M (green), and F336W (blue) for the Ice Giants. Jupiter and Ganymede were observed 2017-02-02 at 12:16UT, Saturn was observed at 2018-06-07 at 00:06UT, Uranus on 2015-08-30 at 10:08UT, and Neptune on 2015-09-02 at 07:58UT. Strong UV absorption is visible at the poles of Jupiter and Saturn due to the nature of highaltitude aerosols and the potential link to auroral chemistry. Red vortices, such as Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and Oval BA (lower left), appear dark due to the blue-absorbing chromophore responsible for their red colours. Uranus’ bright north polar cap of aerosols, and its narrow rings, are just visible in this image. Neptune’s banding, and some bright high clouds (appearing in pink) can be seen in both northern and southern hemispheres. In addition, Saturn’s rings appear reddish due to UV absorption. Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/Hubble/Judy Schmidt.

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Status Report, Uranus

Exploring Giant Planet Atmospheres with Habitable Worlds Observatory

by Keith CowingOctober 22, 2025October 22, 2025

Visible and ultraviolet imaging and spectroscopy of Solar System giant planets can set the paradigm for the atmospheric, ionospheric, and magnetospheric processes shaping the diversity of giant exoplanets, brown dwarfs, […]

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Saturn, Video, Audio, Webcasts, Podcasts, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Video: A Preview Of Future Gas Giant Exploration

by Keith CowingAugust 18, 2025August 18, 2025

Imagine what a future Astrobiology droid might see as it flies through clouds on Jupiter or Saturn looking for biosignatures.

Analysis of exospheric ice grains at Europa by SUDA.

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Europa, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Replicating The Flyby Sampling Of Salty Ocean World Ice Grains Using Impact Ionization Mass Spectrometry

by Keith CowingAugust 15, 2025August 15, 2025

The Europa Clipper mission will arrive at the Jovian system in 2030 and analyze ice grains sourced from the icy material on its surface using impact mass spectrometry, which will […]

The north polar region of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io was captured by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno during the spacecraft’s 57th close pass of the gas giant on Dec. 30, 2023. A technique called annealing was used to help repair radiation damage to the camera in time to capture this image. Credit: Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS. Image processing by Gerald Eichstädt Full Image Details

Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Missions & Hardware, Press Release

How To Save A Spacecraft Camera 370 Million Miles Away In Jupiter Orbit

by Keith CowingJuly 22, 2025July 22, 2025

An experimental technique rescued a camera aboard the agency’s Juno spacecraft, offering lessons that will benefit other space systems that experience high radiation.

EIS datasets. Sequence of observation types during a flyby as a function of range to Europa. Although only shown once here for clarity, observations are made both inbound and outbound depending on illumination. (Not to scale) -- Space Science Reviews via PubMed

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Europa Imaging System (EIS) Investigation

by Keith CowingJuly 17, 2025June 26, 2026

The Europa Imaging System (EIS) consists of a Narrow-Angle Camera (NAC) and a Wide-Angle Camera (WAC) that are designed to work together to address high-priority science objectives regarding Europa’s geology, […]

Average completeness (purple), number of planets before correction (red) and number of planets after correction (green) inside each bin (blue lines). Blue and orange circles represent cold Jupiters with and without inner super-Earth companions respectively. The contours on the left panel correspond to detection completeness of stars from the sample hosting at least one super-Earth. On the right panel, the contours correspond to detection completeness of stars that do not host super-Earths. Note that dividing the red number by the purple number gives an approximation of the green number. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Status Report

Saturns, But Not Super-Jupiters, Occur More Frequently In The Presence Of Inner Super-Earths

by Keith CowingJune 27, 2025June 27, 2025

Studies from recent years have reached different conclusions regarding how frequently super-Earths are accompanied by long period giant planets and vice versa. This relation has been predicted to be mass […]

Binary collision-induced H2–He absorption coefficient, α, normalized by the hydrogen and helium gas densities, as function of frequency in the fundamental band, at 296 K. The parato-ortho distribution, is representative of equilibrium H2, just as in Fig. 2. Our model (“this work”), is compared with the model of Abel et al.17 for T = 300K, and with the laboratory measurements of Vitali et al. 18 and Brodbeck et al.19 , both of which were made near 296 K. We note that neither our model nor that of Abel et al. considered the discrete, intercollisional interference dips present in the laboratory spectra. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Status Report, Uranus

Improved H2-He and H2-H2 Collision-Induced Absorption Models and Application to Outer-Planet Atmospheres

by Keith CowingJune 15, 2025June 13, 2025

Using state-of-the-art ab initio interaction-induced dipole and potential-energy surfaces for hydrogen-helium (H2-He) pairs, we compute the rototranslational collision-induced absorption coefficient at 40-400 K for frequencies covering 0-4000 cm-1.

Jupiter

Not Just Gas: How Solid-Driven Torques Shaped the Migration of the Galilean Moons

On The Divergent Evolution Of Io And Europa As Primordial Ocean Worlds

Global Distribution Of The Key Species on the Surface of Europa

Exploring Giant Planet Atmospheres with Habitable Worlds Observatory

Video: A Preview Of Future Gas Giant Exploration

Replicating The Flyby Sampling Of Salty Ocean World Ice Grains Using Impact Ionization Mass Spectrometry

How To Save A Spacecraft Camera 370 Million Miles Away In Jupiter Orbit

The Europa Imaging System (EIS) Investigation

Saturns, But Not Super-Jupiters, Occur More Frequently In The Presence Of Inner Super-Earths

Improved H2-He and H2-H2 Collision-Induced Absorption Models and Application to Outer-Planet Atmospheres

Well-Preserved Polygons In Elysium Planitia on Mars

Long-term Performance Of Thermoacidophilic Methanotrophic Biotrickling Filters

Diversity Of Planetary Origins And Compositions Traced By Stellar Abundance Differences Of Co-natal Star Systems

Coupled Evolution Of Earth’s H2-rich Proto-atmosphere And Oxidized Magma Ocean

Prebiotic Synthesis of L-Homochiral Peptides on Primordial Earth

AGU annual Meeting 2026

Community Workshop: The Mission to Enceladus – The ESA L4 Mission

Rogue Worlds 3

NRAO CosmicAI Virtual Winter School

American Astronomical Society AAS 249th Meeting