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The Moons of Jupiter
A spectacular tour of the moons of Jupiter in 106 stunning NASA images. Launched in 1989, Project Galileo is NASA's most ambitious interplanetary mission to date. The Galileo spacecraft is scheduled to crash into Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere in September 2003, nearly nine years after it entered orbit around the mighty planet. During this time, Galileo made a number of startling discoveries and transmitted more than 6,000 images of Jupiter and its many moons.
This book explores Jupiter's moons: Io, which simmers with more than 100 active cauldrons and spews lava fountains some 5,000 feet high; Europa, encrusted with salt-stained ice that may hide a once-living subterranean sea; Ganymede, the only moon in our solar system known to generate its own magnetic field; and Callisto, which may harbor a buried ocean and is one of the oldest and possibly unchanged places in our solar system; as well as Jupiter's so-called inner moons and thirty-two additional minor moons. It shows that the Jovian system is like none we know. 106 color illustrations
This book explores Jupiter's moons: Io, which simmers with more than 100 active cauldrons and spews lava fountains some 5,000 feet high; Europa, encrusted with salt-stained ice that may hide a once-living subterranean sea; Ganymede, the only moon in our solar system known to generate its own magnetic field; and Callisto, which may harbor a buried ocean and is one of the oldest and possibly unchanged places in our solar system; as well as Jupiter's so-called inner moons and thirty-two additional minor moons. It shows that the Jovian system is like none we know. 106 color illustrations
240 pages, Hardcover
First published October 6, 2003
13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 21, 2016
By Jove! A stellar book that takes you on an intimate and beautifully written journey of Jupiter's moons. Each photograph is accompanied by a page explaining what it is and how it was taken, relating it also to various figures and whatnot who are the craters', volcanoes, and whatever else's namesakes. Highly recommended for anyone with a love of astronomy, and/or an affection for Jupiter and its system of moons. The information is not dry, and is accessible even to the layman who knows nothing of Jupiter and its moons. In contrast, it is written in a very creative and at times poetic manner.
June 2, 2023
Very interesting photo essay, very beautiful collection of color photos from NASA's Galileo probe. This book is written for laypersons, you don't need to possess an advanced comprehension of planetary science to understand or appreciate this book.
July 6, 2020
For the research requirement of my undergraduate physics degree I studied radio and plasma wave data from the Cassini spacecraft, taken during its flyby of Jupiter a few years earlier. I processed and analyzed this data using FORTRAN and IDL to do a couple things: confirm earlier measurements from the Galileo spacecraft, and to look for indications of orbital-phase induced radio wave enhancements, showing that the four Galilean moons affected the radio emissions from Jupiter at certain points in their orbits, by interacting with the plasma environment around the planet.
These measurements would aid a more accurate assessment of Jupiter's rotation period, since such a thing is tricky to measure on a gas giant with differential rotation. You have to measure the rotation of the magnetic field instead of the rotation of any part of its visible cloudy "surface". The rotation of the magnetic field is tricky to measure when you have moons flying around, interacting with it and causing unexpected transmissions.
This was my introduction to doing science. I defended this research as my undergraduate thesis. In doing this work I developed a huge fascination with Jupiter and its Galilean moons, on top of my already huge fascination with outer space in general.
When I found this book, probably at Barnes and Noble, I immediately was reminded of my undergraduate research project. Looking through it only briefly I knew I had to have it. These photographs were taken by the Galileo spacecraft and are beautiful representations of the mysteries that still rest in outer space, even in our own planetary neighborhood.
I bought the book and poured over its pages for weeks, never really sitting down to read it in one go, but reading sections at a time, looking over the amazing photographs, and learning some cool information about these moons that I didn't already know. I revisited it every few months or so. It's not a deep scientific report or even a pop-science publication. Its information is wide, not deep, but juicy enough for any curious person or space enthusiast. The main focus here is the visual aspect of these moons and other bodies in Jupiter's vicinity. And this is a hugely mesmerizing aspect of these bodies, because they feel so alien and so familiar at the same time. The pictures in this book will allow even those completely divorced from any intellectual or mental interest in space to be titillated and amused.
I'm writing these thoughts years later, at a time where I can't find my copy of the book. I suspect it's in storage with my other books that wouldn't fit on my shelves due to our limited space at present. I hope I didn't sell it during my last move, that would be sad. In the event that I did in fact get rid of this book in a moment of short-sightedness, let this review stand as my memorial to a book that was a fun reminder of the beauty of space.
This is a perfect coffee table book, much more interesting, informational, and visually stunning than the mundane and terrestrial books that I see on too many coffee tables. "Coffee table book" is not a derogatory term, but so many books people put there might erroneously lead one to believe books laid out for public view have to be awful. This book is a welcome alternative.
These measurements would aid a more accurate assessment of Jupiter's rotation period, since such a thing is tricky to measure on a gas giant with differential rotation. You have to measure the rotation of the magnetic field instead of the rotation of any part of its visible cloudy "surface". The rotation of the magnetic field is tricky to measure when you have moons flying around, interacting with it and causing unexpected transmissions.
This was my introduction to doing science. I defended this research as my undergraduate thesis. In doing this work I developed a huge fascination with Jupiter and its Galilean moons, on top of my already huge fascination with outer space in general.
When I found this book, probably at Barnes and Noble, I immediately was reminded of my undergraduate research project. Looking through it only briefly I knew I had to have it. These photographs were taken by the Galileo spacecraft and are beautiful representations of the mysteries that still rest in outer space, even in our own planetary neighborhood.
I bought the book and poured over its pages for weeks, never really sitting down to read it in one go, but reading sections at a time, looking over the amazing photographs, and learning some cool information about these moons that I didn't already know. I revisited it every few months or so. It's not a deep scientific report or even a pop-science publication. Its information is wide, not deep, but juicy enough for any curious person or space enthusiast. The main focus here is the visual aspect of these moons and other bodies in Jupiter's vicinity. And this is a hugely mesmerizing aspect of these bodies, because they feel so alien and so familiar at the same time. The pictures in this book will allow even those completely divorced from any intellectual or mental interest in space to be titillated and amused.
I'm writing these thoughts years later, at a time where I can't find my copy of the book. I suspect it's in storage with my other books that wouldn't fit on my shelves due to our limited space at present. I hope I didn't sell it during my last move, that would be sad. In the event that I did in fact get rid of this book in a moment of short-sightedness, let this review stand as my memorial to a book that was a fun reminder of the beauty of space.
This is a perfect coffee table book, much more interesting, informational, and visually stunning than the mundane and terrestrial books that I see on too many coffee tables. "Coffee table book" is not a derogatory term, but so many books people put there might erroneously lead one to believe books laid out for public view have to be awful. This book is a welcome alternative.
August 28, 2012
“The Moons of Jupiter” is written by Kristine Leutwyler-Ozelli and was published in 2003. This book also contains an afterword by John Casani.
I’ve purchased this book while visiting the Oberservatorium Sonneborgh in the middle of Utrecht (Netherlands) during the 2012 Venus transition. (6th of June 2012). The book is nine years old and in the meantime a lot of new (small) moons were discovered, making it a little outdated. The small moons are known as the Irregular Moons and orbit Jupiter at a distance of 11 million kilometres and 22 million kilometres. However the photographs and the detailed information of the moons made me buy this book nevertheless.
Kristine Leutwyler was a staff editor and online editorial director at Scientific American magazine where she wrote regularly about Jupiter and its moons. She holds bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and literature and a master’s degree in journalism.
John R. Casani was the original project manager from Galileo Mission serving in this position form 1974 to 1989. He also served as project manager for the Cassini Mission to Saturn and the Voyager Mission to the outer planets.
This is very complete review of Jupiter and Jupiter’s moons. Wonderful written by Kristine Leutwyler and beautiful illustrated with photographs from Voyager 1 and 2, Galileo, Cassini-Huygens and The Hubble Space telescope. Sometimes masterful complications of photographs of different missions and different densities with several 3D images and 3D global mosaic of the Galilean Moons.
The 3D global mosaics are constructed by projecting the individual images onto a so-called Sinusoidal Equal-Area Projection. Then they employed two additional projections to generate the flattened hemispherical maps. To centre the maps at the poles, they used a Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area Projection for the moon’s higher latitudes from 75 to 90 degrees north and south. But because azimuthal projections become increasingly distorted with distance from their central points, another sort of projection was needed for the equatorial regions, from 0 to 75 degrees north and south. The Transverse Mercator projection mapped these lower latitudes onto an imaginary cylinder wrapped around the globes middle. Tacked onto the outer edges of the azimuthal projection, the cylindrical map breaks apart into separate petals, which overlap by two degrees longitude.
Very nice!!! But I did not tried to make the globes myself ;-).
Please read this book, enjoy the writing of Kristine and the references to Greek Mythology, ancient cities, Norwegian history and of course the scientific details regarding the Jovian System.
I’ve purchased this book while visiting the Oberservatorium Sonneborgh in the middle of Utrecht (Netherlands) during the 2012 Venus transition. (6th of June 2012). The book is nine years old and in the meantime a lot of new (small) moons were discovered, making it a little outdated. The small moons are known as the Irregular Moons and orbit Jupiter at a distance of 11 million kilometres and 22 million kilometres. However the photographs and the detailed information of the moons made me buy this book nevertheless.
Kristine Leutwyler was a staff editor and online editorial director at Scientific American magazine where she wrote regularly about Jupiter and its moons. She holds bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and literature and a master’s degree in journalism.
John R. Casani was the original project manager from Galileo Mission serving in this position form 1974 to 1989. He also served as project manager for the Cassini Mission to Saturn and the Voyager Mission to the outer planets.
This is very complete review of Jupiter and Jupiter’s moons. Wonderful written by Kristine Leutwyler and beautiful illustrated with photographs from Voyager 1 and 2, Galileo, Cassini-Huygens and The Hubble Space telescope. Sometimes masterful complications of photographs of different missions and different densities with several 3D images and 3D global mosaic of the Galilean Moons.
The 3D global mosaics are constructed by projecting the individual images onto a so-called Sinusoidal Equal-Area Projection. Then they employed two additional projections to generate the flattened hemispherical maps. To centre the maps at the poles, they used a Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area Projection for the moon’s higher latitudes from 75 to 90 degrees north and south. But because azimuthal projections become increasingly distorted with distance from their central points, another sort of projection was needed for the equatorial regions, from 0 to 75 degrees north and south. The Transverse Mercator projection mapped these lower latitudes onto an imaginary cylinder wrapped around the globes middle. Tacked onto the outer edges of the azimuthal projection, the cylindrical map breaks apart into separate petals, which overlap by two degrees longitude.
Very nice!!! But I did not tried to make the globes myself ;-).
Please read this book, enjoy the writing of Kristine and the references to Greek Mythology, ancient cities, Norwegian history and of course the scientific details regarding the Jovian System.
July 20, 2016
A nice picture book of probe-photos, with a disappointing text. 3.6 stars
A nice picture book of, you guessed it.... basically Galileo's Big Four, but with a few of the minor moons tossed in for extra flavor. Photos from all the probes so far (to 2002), with a nice variety of surface features. Sure, you can get all these (and a lot more!) online, but there's a lot to be said for a book, and an editor's discerning eye. The color printing is pretty good, as good as the 'originals' (slow-scan digital TV images, transmitted a long, long way, and *heavily* processed).
The one big flaw, in my opinion, is the self-consciously arty text, heavy on classical allusions (to the mythical names, mostly). But these are easily skimmed or skipped. The big strength is a good selection of probe-photos, nicely reproduced & reasonably priced. Given the widespread dissatisfaction expressed in the reviews at Amazon, however, it might be best to borrow it from your library before buying.
One review mentioned "...the book is printed on the too-glossy paper of low-quality coffee table books that makes is prone to smudging and glare, so the few decent images the book contains are hard to enjoy." This wasn't true of the copy (first edition, first printing) in front of me, a well-used library copy. [my 2006 review]
A nice picture book of, you guessed it.... basically Galileo's Big Four, but with a few of the minor moons tossed in for extra flavor. Photos from all the probes so far (to 2002), with a nice variety of surface features. Sure, you can get all these (and a lot more!) online, but there's a lot to be said for a book, and an editor's discerning eye. The color printing is pretty good, as good as the 'originals' (slow-scan digital TV images, transmitted a long, long way, and *heavily* processed).
The one big flaw, in my opinion, is the self-consciously arty text, heavy on classical allusions (to the mythical names, mostly). But these are easily skimmed or skipped. The big strength is a good selection of probe-photos, nicely reproduced & reasonably priced. Given the widespread dissatisfaction expressed in the reviews at Amazon, however, it might be best to borrow it from your library before buying.
One review mentioned "...the book is printed on the too-glossy paper of low-quality coffee table books that makes is prone to smudging and glare, so the few decent images the book contains are hard to enjoy." This wasn't true of the copy (first edition, first printing) in front of me, a well-used library copy. [my 2006 review]
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews