HD Hubble Images Milky Way


Ganymede: Ganymede is both the largest moon of Jupiter, our Solar System's planetary behemoth, as well as the largest moon in our entire Solar system. Observations of Ganymede by the HST in 2015 suggested the existence of a subsurface saline ocean. This is because patterns in auroral belts and rocking of the magnetic field hinted at the presence of an ocean. It is estimated to be approximately 100 kilometers deep with a surface situated below a crust of 150 kilometers. Titan's atmosphere is approximately 95% nitrogen. However, in a way that dramatically differs from Earth's own mostly-nitrogen atmosphere, Titan's atmosphere has very little oxygen. Indeed, the remainder of Titan's atmosphere is almost entirely composed of methane--along with small qunatities of other gases, such as ethane. At the extremely cold temperatures that are found at Saturn's great distance from the heat of our Star, Titan's methane and ethane can accumulate on its icy surface to form pools of liquid. Furthermore, the icy stuff that collected on Methone's surface could even be more lightweight than that which lies beneath. It is possible that such fluffy, snowy, stuff can actually flow--at least over long periods of thousands to millions of years--thus filling in the tell-tale scars of impact craters.