Astronomía: March of the moons— Hubble captures rare triple moon transit of Jupiter
These new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope
images capture a rare occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons
parade across the giant gas planet’s banded face. Hubble took a string
of images of the event which show the three satellites — Europa,
Callisto and Io — in action.
There are four Galilean satellites — named after the 17th century scientist Galileo Galilei who discovered them [1]. They complete orbits around Jupiter ranging from two to seventeen days in duration. The moons can commonly be seen transiting
the face of Jupiter and casting shadows onto its layers of cloud.
However, seeing three of them transiting the face of Jupiter at the same
time is rare, occurring only once or twice a decade.The image on the left shows the Hubble observation at the beginning of the event. On the left is the moon Callisto and on the right, Io. The shadows from Callisto, Io and Europa are strung out from left to right. Europa itself cannot be seen in the image.
The image on the right shows the end of the event, just over 40 minutes later. Europa has entered the frame at lower left with slower-moving Callisto above and to the right of it. Meanwhile Io — which orbits significantly closer to Jupiter and so moves much more quickly — is approaching the eastern limb of the planet. Whilst Callisto’s shadow seems hardly to have moved, Io’s has set over the planet’s eastern edge and Europa’s has risen further in the west. The event is also shown from start to finish in a video.
Missing from this sequence is the Galilean moon Ganymede which was outside Hubble’s field of view.
The moons of Jupiter have very distinctive colours. The smooth icy surface of Europa is yellow-white, the volcanic sulphur surface of Io is orange and the surface of Callisto, which is one of the oldest and most cratered surfaces known in the Solar System, is a brownish colour.
The images were taken with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 in visible light on 23 January 2015. Whilst Hubble captures these moons in great clarity they can also be seen with a small telescope or even a decent pair of binoculars. Why not try it at home?
Notes
[1] These were among the first observations ever made using a telescope. They revolutionised our understanding of the Universe, and finally laid to rest the theory that the Earth is the centre of the Solar System.
Three moons and their shadows parade across Jupiter — Comparison of beginning and end of sequence, including annotations
These new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images capture a rare
occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons parade across the giant
gas planet’s banded face.
The image on the left shows the Hubble observation at the beginning of the event. On the left is the moon Callisto and on the right, Io. The shadows from Europa, which cannot be seen in the image, Callisto, and Io are strung out from left to right.
The image on the right shows the end of the event, approximately 42 minutes later. Europa has entered the frame at lower left with slower moving Callisto above and to the right of it. Meanwhile Io — which orbits significantly closer to Jupiter and so appears to move much more quickly — is approaching the eastern limb of the planet. Whilst Callisto’s shadow seems hardly to have moved Io’s has set over the planet’s eastern edge and Europa’s has risen further in the west.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
The image on the left shows the Hubble observation at the beginning of the event. On the left is the moon Callisto and on the right, Io. The shadows from Europa, which cannot be seen in the image, Callisto, and Io are strung out from left to right.
The image on the right shows the end of the event, approximately 42 minutes later. Europa has entered the frame at lower left with slower moving Callisto above and to the right of it. Meanwhile Io — which orbits significantly closer to Jupiter and so appears to move much more quickly — is approaching the eastern limb of the planet. Whilst Callisto’s shadow seems hardly to have moved Io’s has set over the planet’s eastern edge and Europa’s has risen further in the west.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
Three moons and their shadows parade across Jupiter — comparison of beginning and end of sequence, without annotations
These new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images capture a rare
occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons parade across the giant
gas planet’s banded face.
The image on the left shows the Hubble observation at the beginning of the event. On the left is the moon Callisto and on the right, Io. The shadows from Europa, which cannot be seen in the image, Callisto, and Io are strung out from left to right.
The image on the right shows the end of the event, approximately 42 minutes later. Europa has entered the frame at lower left with slower moving Callisto above and to the right of it. Meanwhile Io — which orbits significantly closer to Jupiter and so appears to move much more quickly — is approaching the eastern limb of the planet. Whilst Callisto’s shadow seems hardly to have moved Io’s has set over the planet’s eastern edge and Europa’s has risen further in the west.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills and an annotated version is also available.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
The image on the left shows the Hubble observation at the beginning of the event. On the left is the moon Callisto and on the right, Io. The shadows from Europa, which cannot be seen in the image, Callisto, and Io are strung out from left to right.
The image on the right shows the end of the event, approximately 42 minutes later. Europa has entered the frame at lower left with slower moving Callisto above and to the right of it. Meanwhile Io — which orbits significantly closer to Jupiter and so appears to move much more quickly — is approaching the eastern limb of the planet. Whilst Callisto’s shadow seems hardly to have moved Io’s has set over the planet’s eastern edge and Europa’s has risen further in the west.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills and an annotated version is also available.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
Three moons and their shadows parade across Jupiter — comparison of beginning and end of sequence, with annotations
These new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images capture a rare
occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons parade across the giant
gas planet’s banded face.
The image on the left shows the Hubble observation at the beginning of the event. On the left is the moon Callisto and on the right, Io. The shadows from Europa, which cannot be seen in the image, Callisto and Io are strung out from left to right.
The image on the right shows the end of the event, approximately 42 minutes later. Europa has entered the frame at lower left with slower-moving Callisto above and to the right of it. Meanwhile Io — which orbits significantly closer to Jupiter and so appears to move much more quickly — is approaching the eastern limb of the planet. Whilst Callisto’s shadow seems hardly to have moved Io’s has set over the planet’s eastern edge and Europa’s has risen further in the west.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
The image on the left shows the Hubble observation at the beginning of the event. On the left is the moon Callisto and on the right, Io. The shadows from Europa, which cannot be seen in the image, Callisto and Io are strung out from left to right.
The image on the right shows the end of the event, approximately 42 minutes later. Europa has entered the frame at lower left with slower-moving Callisto above and to the right of it. Meanwhile Io — which orbits significantly closer to Jupiter and so appears to move much more quickly — is approaching the eastern limb of the planet. Whilst Callisto’s shadow seems hardly to have moved Io’s has set over the planet’s eastern edge and Europa’s has risen further in the west.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
Three moons and their shadows parade across Jupiter — beginning of event
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures a rare
occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons parade across the giant
gas planet’s banded face.
The image shows the Hubble observation at the beginning of the event. On the left is the moon Callisto and on the right, Io. The shadows from Europa, which cannot be seen in the image, Callisto and Io are strung out from left to right.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills and an annotated version is also available.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
The image shows the Hubble observation at the beginning of the event. On the left is the moon Callisto and on the right, Io. The shadows from Europa, which cannot be seen in the image, Callisto and Io are strung out from left to right.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills and an annotated version is also available.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
Three moons and their shadows parade across Jupiter — beginning of event, annotated
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures a rare
occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons parade across the giant
gas planet’s banded face.
The image shows the Hubble observation at the beginning of the event. On the left is the moon Callisto and on the right, Io. The shadows from Europa, which cannot be seen in the image, Callisto and Io are strung out from left to right.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
The image shows the Hubble observation at the beginning of the event. On the left is the moon Callisto and on the right, Io. The shadows from Europa, which cannot be seen in the image, Callisto and Io are strung out from left to right.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
Three moons and their shadows parade across Jupiter — end of event
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures a rare
occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons parade across the giant
gas planet’s banded face.
The image shows the end of the event. Europa has entered the frame at lower left with slower-moving Callisto above and to the right of it. Meanwhile Io — which orbits significantly closer to Jupiter — is approaching the eastern limb of the planet.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills and an annotated version is also available.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures a rare occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons parade across the giant gas planet’s banded face.
The image shows the end of the event. Europa has entered the frame at lower left with slower-moving Callisto above and to the right of it. Meanwhile Io — which orbits significantly closer to Jupiter — is approaching the eastern limb of the planet.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
VIDEOS
These new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images capture a rare occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons parade across the giant gas planet’s banded face.
Hubble took a string of images of the event which are stitched together to show the three satellites — Europa, Callisto and Io — in action in this time-lapse video.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
The image shows the end of the event. Europa has entered the frame at lower left with slower-moving Callisto above and to the right of it. Meanwhile Io — which orbits significantly closer to Jupiter — is approaching the eastern limb of the planet.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills and an annotated version is also available.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
Three moons and their shadows parade across Jupiter — end of event, annotated
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures a rare occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons parade across the giant gas planet’s banded face.
The image shows the end of the event. Europa has entered the frame at lower left with slower-moving Callisto above and to the right of it. Meanwhile Io — which orbits significantly closer to Jupiter — is approaching the eastern limb of the planet.
The movement of the moons is shown in the video created from Hubble stills.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
VIDEOS
Time-lapse of Jupiter’s three moon transit
These new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images capture a rare occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons parade across the giant gas planet’s banded face.
Hubble took a string of images of the event which are stitched together to show the three satellites — Europa, Callisto and Io — in action in this time-lapse video.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
Time-lapse of Jupiter’s three moon transit, time stamped
These new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images capture a rare
occurrence as three of Jupiter’s largest moons parade across the giant
gas planet’s banded face.
Hubble took a string of images of the event which are stitched together to show the three satellites — Europa, Callisto and Io — in action in this time-lapse video.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
This simulation illustrates the orbits and positions of Jupiter’s
four largest moons on 24 January 2015 during a rare triple-moon transit
where three of Jupiter’s largest moons were seen parading across the
banded face of the gas giant planet. The three moons are Europa,
Callisto, and Io.
We start with a polar view of Jupiter and its moons - including the moon Ganymede which is not seen in the transit - and tilt down to the orbital plane of the moons. The satellites move from left to right across the frame, casting shadows onto the face of Jupiter.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon, L. Frattare, Z. Levay, and F. Summers (STScI/AURA)
Fuente: ESA/Hubble Information Centre
The ESO Education and Public Outreach Department
Hubble took a string of images of the event which are stitched together to show the three satellites — Europa, Callisto and Io — in action in this time-lapse video.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
Simulation of Galilean Satellites orbiting Jupiter
We start with a polar view of Jupiter and its moons - including the moon Ganymede which is not seen in the transit - and tilt down to the orbital plane of the moons. The satellites move from left to right across the frame, casting shadows onto the face of Jupiter.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon, L. Frattare, Z. Levay, and F. Summers (STScI/AURA)
Fuente: ESA/Hubble Information Centre
The ESO Education and Public Outreach Department
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