a. What effect is responsible explaining decrease in tectonic activity in the moons of Jupiter as distance increases from Jupiter?
b. What is Roche’s Limit and why are planetary ring systems usually within the distance of Roche’s limit?
c. What is responsible for the strong magnetic fields of the gas giants?
b. What is Roche’s Limit and why are planetary ring systems usually within the distance of Roche’s limit?
c. What is responsible for the strong magnetic fields of the gas giants?
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A) Most activity in the moons that orbit Jupiter, such as Io, is caused by tidal forces caused by Jupiter's immense gravity. It essentially stretches and crushes the internal structure of the moons and causes them to heat up.
B) The Roche limit is the limit that an object can reach before it's torn apart by the parent object's gravity. The rings of the gas giant planets are made of pulverized moons either from impacts or straying too close to their planet's Roche limit.
C) The gas giant planets have thick layers of metallic hydrogen deep within their cores that produce a magnetic dynamo like the one in Earth, except on a much larger scale.
B) The Roche limit is the limit that an object can reach before it's torn apart by the parent object's gravity. The rings of the gas giant planets are made of pulverized moons either from impacts or straying too close to their planet's Roche limit.
C) The gas giant planets have thick layers of metallic hydrogen deep within their cores that produce a magnetic dynamo like the one in Earth, except on a much larger scale.