All Four Jovian PlanetsĪnswer: - Approximately 10 Earth-mass core Question: Sort each of the planetary properties below based on whether they apply to some, all, or none of the four jovian planets in our solar system. Jupiter and Saturn OnlyĪnswer: - Composed mostly of hydrogen and helium What additional information, if any, would we need to decide whether these moons experience tidal heating?Īnswer: We need to know their orbital periods. Suppose that future observations show that one of these planets has two orbiting moons. Question: We now know of many Jupiter-size planets around other stars. However, Europa experiences less tidal heating than Io, because Europa _ than Io. Question: Orbital resonance also gives Europa an elliptical orbit, so it experiences tidal heating, too. What observational evidence confirms that tidal heating is important on Io? Question: We cannot see tidal forces or tidal heating rather, we predict that they must occur based on the orbital characteristics of the moons. This orbital resonance causes Io to have a more elliptical orbit than it would otherwise, because _.Īnswer: Io, Europa and Ganymede periodically return to the same orbital positions, creating the same gravitational tugs This elliptical orbit, in turn, is a result of the orbital resonance among Io, Europa, and Ganymede. Question: As you saw in Part A, Io’s elliptical orbit is necessary to its tidal heating. This ability to generate heat in a subsurface ocean increases the chance of life on bodies like Europa and Enceladus.Question: Io experiences tidal heating primarily because _.Īnswer: its elliptical orbit causes the tidal force to vary as Io orbits Jupiter. Other moons in the Solar System undergo tidal heating, and they too may have more heat generated by this process, including heat from the movement of water. When the molten rock flows, it may swirl and rub against the surrounding rock, thus generating heat. The team who wrote the paper believe that the subsurface ocean is a mixture of molten and solid rock. Liquids, especially if they are sticky (or viscous), can produce heat through friction. The movement of this magma would generate extra heat. A study published in 2015, explains the eastern shift by an ocean of molten rock under the surface. They are shifted 30 to 60 degrees to the East. Īlthough there is general agreement that the cause of the heat as manifested in Io's many volcanoes is tidal heating from the pull of gravity from Jupiter and its moon Europa, the volcanoes are not in the positions predicted with tidal heating. The friction-induced heating drives strong volcanic activities on the surface of Io. The varying distance between Jupiter and Io continually changes the degree of distortion of Io's shape and flexes its interior, frictionally heating it. Io is the innermost of this set of resonant moons, and their interactions maintain its orbit in an eccentric (elliptical) state. Differently from the Earth’s only moon, Jupiter has two other large moons ( Europa and Ganymede) that are in an orbital resonance with it. This difference in gravitational forces cause distortion of Io’s shape. As Jupiter is very massive, the side of Io nearest to Jupiter has a slightly larger gravitational pull than the opposite side. The major heating source of Earth and the Moon is radioactive heating, but the heating source on Io is tidal heating. This is caused by the heating mechanism of Io. Io has a similar mass and size as the Moon, but Io is the most geologically active body in the Solar System. Orbital and rotational energy are dissipated as heat in the crust of the moon. Tidal heating of Io (also known as tidal working) occurs through the tidal friction processes between Jupiter and its moon. (C) Earth's moon's orbit is circular, so the moon's shape doesn't change.(factually untrue, Io's orbit is 10 times more circular than our moon's) Io's shape changes as it completes its orbit. Gravity from these bodies pull Io in varying directions. (A) Of the four major moons of Jupiter, Io is the inner-most one. Dissipation of orbital and rotational friction between Jupiter and Io Tidal heating on Io.
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