Publications by authors named "M Zannoni"
Io experiences tidal deformation due to its eccentric orbit around Jupiter, which provides a primary energy source for Io's ongoing volcanic activity and infrared emission. The amount of tidal energy dissipated within Io is enormous and has been hypothesized to support the large-scale melting of Io's interior and the formation of a global subsurface magma ocean. If Io has a shallow global magma ocean, its tidal deformation would be much larger than in the case of a more rigid, mostly solid interior.
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- - The text discusses the latest research on the surfaces and thin atmospheres of the icy Galilean moons Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto, revealing insights from past and ongoing space missions, as well as recent telescopic data.
- - It highlights how the surface geology of these moons indicates their evolution and internal heating due to tidal interactions, while surface compositions may suggest potential shallow liquid water environments linked to deeper oceans.
- - The article outlines the objectives of the ESA JUICE mission to thoroughly investigate these moons, focusing on their tenuous atmospheres, the unexplored water vapor plumes of Europa, and includes predicted trajectory maps for future observations.
Spacecraft observations revealed that rocks on carbonaceous asteroids, which constitute the most numerous class by composition, can develop millimeter-to-meter-scale fractures due to thermal stresses. However, signatures of this process on the second-most populous group of asteroids, the S-complex, have been poorly constrained. Here, we report observations of boulders' fractures on Dimorphos, which is the moonlet of the S-complex asteroid (65803) Didymos, the target of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) planetary defense mission.
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