This remarkable line of 13 closely spaced craters [
http://photojournal… PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA01610 ] on Jupiter's moon Ganymede [
http://cass.jsc.nas… ] was photographed by the Galileo spacecraft in 1997. The picture covers an area about 120 miles wide and the chain of craters cuts across a sharp boundary between dark and light terrain. What caused this crater chain? During the exploration of the Solar System [
http://ceps.nasm.ed… ], crater chains like this one have been discovered [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] in several places [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] and were considered mysterious until a dramatic object lesson was offered by comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. In 1994 many denizens of planet Earth [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] watched as huge pieces of this torn comet [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] slammed into Jupiter itself in a spectacular series of sequential impacts [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ]. It is very likely that similar torn comets [
http://www.skypub.c… ] from the early history of the Solar System are responsible for this and other crater chains [
http://www.jpl.nasa… ].
explanation
This remarkable line of 13 closely spaced craters [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA01610 ] on Jupiter's moon Ganymede [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/pub/research/outerp/gany.html ] was photographed by the Galileo spacecraft in 1997. The picture covers an area about 120 miles wide and the chain of craters cuts across a sharp boundary between dark and light terrain. What caused this crater chain? During the exploration of the Solar System [ http://ceps.nasm.edu:2020/ETP/ETP.html ], crater chains like this one have been discovered [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950715.html ] in several places [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971209.html ] and were considered mysterious until a dramatic object lesson was offered by comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. In 1994 many denizens of planet Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971026.html ] watched as huge pieces of this torn comet [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980801.html ] slammed into Jupiter itself in a spectacular series of sequential impacts [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980804.html ]. It is very likely that similar torn comets [ http://www.skypub.com/comets/sw3.html ] from the early history of the Solar System are responsible for this and other crater chains [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/sl9/news80.html ].
Explanation
false