Io moon mass free#

'These outer moons can only be visited by these spacecraft as they enter Jupiter's gravitational sphere of influence,' Sheppard tells CNN. Scientists are hoping to learn more about the newly-discovered moons. The European Space Agency is launching its Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer in April, and NASA is expected to launch its Europa Clipper mission in 2024. Observations of the potential moons were made in 20, but all 12 moons took at least 340 days to complete their orbit, 'and nine take more than 550 days,' Smithsonian Magazine explains, 'so this proved to be a slow process.' In order for a satellite to be confirmed as a moon, its orbit needs to be tracked. Of the 12 newly-discovered moons, half are bigger than 1.5 miles in size, which is how big a planet has to be in order to get a name.Īnother factor is orbit time. Also, many of the moons orbiting Jupiter are very small, which makes them hard to see. Jupiter is exceptionally bright, which creates 'glare and scattered light affecting the space where moons can exist,' CNN writes. However, spotting and confirming the planet's moons poses unique challenges. 'Many, many more,' according to Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science, who led the team that made the recent discoveries.

The downside is that so much energy would go into building the thing in the first place, I'm not sure it would be worth it.The other factor that works in Jupiter's favor is that it's far enough away from the sun to avoid 'lunar theft,' says HowStuffWorks. Since the sun also has a massive gravitational pull, a planet like Jupiter would likely have very few, if any, moons if it were closer to the sun because they would 'get caught in a game of celestial tug of war,' explains French astronomer Fathi Namouni. But a Planet-Large Moon system, maybe it could work. You'd also need a large moon, otherwise the orbit would circularize and energy would diminish.

I have no idea if it would be practical at all, but it's theoretically possible. Whether such a thing is practical is another question. The amount of electricity would depend on the mass and size and flexibility of the spherical construct and the energy would come from a nearly limitless source - the planet's rotational energy. The stretching back and forth and the mass of the outer shell of this object could pull pistons and make electricity. In theory, a devise could be built using material and mass asteroids and carbon fiber cables, and some kind of structure where there was a spherical outside that stretches and squishes in an orbit, ideally, like Io, between the planet and it's large moon where some eccentricity and variation would be maintained. Jupiter works, or, an outer planet, maybe even the theoretical Planet 9, where solar-energy panels would be pretty pointless, Uranium fuel might be scarce and 3He takes time to collect for fusion, so they need a power source. Lets say we have a colony far from the Sun.

Io moon mass free#

In terms of 'Magic Energy' (I hate the word magic, lets say free energy)