The Moons of Jupiter: Difference between revisions

== The innermost moons (Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, Thebe) ==

 

 

Four irregular shaped moons, being pretty small and not large enough to form into spheres. Due to tidal forces, the first two will eventually drop into the planet or break up into ring particles. The largest, Amalthea, was discovered in 1892 and is very, very red. The radiation levels this close to Jupiter ''will'' kill you faster than you can say "non-functional DNA".

Amalthea didn't get its name until the mid-20th century; before then it was simply known as "Jupiter V" (as in the Roman numeral 5). [[Arthur C. Clarke]] wrote a short story by this name, which posited an alien civilization there. (How a civilization could form under such high radiation levels, in surface gravity only 0.2% of Earth's, is another matter.)

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== Space Pizza: Io ==

[[File:Io Animated.gif|thumb|200px]]