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 […]
Callisto
Posted inAstrogeology, Callisto, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Press Release
Ganymede Might Still Be Forming Its Metal Core Today
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 […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Comets and Asteroids, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Planetary Exploration 3.0: A Roadmap for Software-Defined, Radically Adaptive Space Systems
The surface and subsurface of worlds beyond Mars remain largely unexplored. Yet these worlds hold keys to fundamental questions in planetary science – from potentially habitable subsurface oceans on icy […]
![Artist’s impression of the simulations conducted in this research. Jupiter (lower left) has a strong magnetic field which creates a cavity in its circumplanetary disk. Saturn (upper right) lacks a strong magnetic field so its circumplanetary disk evolves without a cavity. Credit: Yuri I. Fujii/L-INSIGHT [Kyoto University], Illustrator: Shinichiro Kinoshita](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/How-Jupiter-Cultivated.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrogeology, Callisto, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Io, Jupiter, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release, Rhea, Saturn, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
How Jupiter Cultivated More Large Moons Than Saturn
The two largest planets in our Solar System, Jupiter and Saturn, also have the largest satellite systems, or the most moons. At present, Jupiter’s reported moon count stands at more […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Io, Jupiter, Press Release
New Insights Into The Potential For Life In The Jovian System
Southwest Research Institute was part of an international team that demonstrated how complex organic molecules (COMs), key chemical precursors to life, could have been incorporated into Jupiter’s Galilean moons during […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Io, Jupiter, Status Report
Delivery Of Complex Organic Molecules To The System Of Jupiter
Complex organic molecules are key markers of molecular diversity, and their formation conditions in protoplanetary disks remain an active area of research. These molecules have been detected on a variety […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Callisto, Cryobiology, Europa, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Ice Giant, Io, Jupiter, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
Formation and Survival of Complex Organic Molecules in the Jovian Circumplanetary Disk
Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are key targets in the search for habitability due to the potential presence of subsurface oceans. Detecting complex organic molecules (COMs), essential for prebiotic chemistry, is […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Hyperion, Impact events, Press Release, Saturn, Titan
Saturn’s Moon Titan Could Have Formed in a Merger of Two Old Moons
Recent research suggests that Saturn’s bright rings and its largest moon, Titan, may have both originated in collisions among its moons.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Io, Jupiter, Press Release
The Water Makeup Of Jupiter’s Galilean Moons Was Set At Birth
While Io, the most volcanically active moon in the solar system, appears completely dry and devoid of water ice, its neighbor Europa is thought to harbor a vast global ocean […]
Posted inCallisto, Europa, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Io, Jupiter, Status Report
Callisto’s Nonresonant Orbit As An Outcome Of Circum-Jovian Disk Substructure
The Galilean moons of Io, Europa, and Ganymede exhibit a 4:2:1 commensurability in their mean motions, a configuration known as the Laplace resonance.