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Chapter 9: The Jovian Planets
The Night Sky
Two of the Jovian planets you've been studying, Jupiter and Saturn, can be seen with the naked eye.
1) Are Jupiter and/or Saturn visible this month? 2) If so, where and when should you look for them? 3) What else is happening this month in the sky?
Visit the Night Sky Features web site
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Jupiter
Voyager I was launched in 1977, and along with Voyager II, it relayed to Earth over 30,000 photographs of Jupiter, and much more information about Jupiter and its moons.
1) Find the images of Jupiter taken by Voyager 1, and describe the image "Southeast of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter." 2) Go to the "NSSDC Planetary Photo Gallery", find the "Montage of images of Jupiter's Great Red Spot . . .", and describe changes that can be seen in the spot through the years.
Visit the Jupiter web site
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The Galileo Spacecraft
The Galileo spacecraft returned an amazing amount of data to us about Jupiter's system.
1) Report on the legacy of the Galileo mission. 2) Report on what "the Millenium Flyby" was.
Visit the Galileo Home Page (JPL) web site
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The Moons of Saturn
Saturn and its moons are among the most fascinating and impressive objects in the solar system. Although the images on this site are slow-loading, they illustrate many features of the Saturnian system.
1) Comment on the range of sizes of Saturn's moons. 2) Name the smallest and largest moon and estimate the ratio of their diameters. 3) Make a list of at least 4 unusual features about the moons, naming the moon in each case.
Visit the Moon Comparison Image web site
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The Cassini Mission
As Cassini's mission to Saturn continues, NASA must keep constant contact with it, and on this site they inform the public of the spacecraft's status.
1) Report on Cassini's flyby of Jupiter. 2) Report on the latest news from Cassini. What have we learned about Titan so far?
Visit the Cassini-Huygens Home Page web site
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Neptune and the Great Dark Spot
Voyager II passed Neptune in the August of 1989, and sent to Earth more than 9,000 images and a multitude of data, giving us most of what we know about Neptune.
View the photograph of Neptune and its Great Dark Spot taken by Voyager II. Use the fact that Earth's diameter is about 13,000 km to estimate the approximate length of the Great Dark Spot compared to Earth's diameter.
Visit the Neptune and the Great Dark Spot web site
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