The Lab With Brad

Why is that moon spewing?

We finish up with the planet Saturn with a look at her moon, Enceladus. It is spewing forth giant guizers of water and other chemicals, hinting at its subsurface salty ocean and even the possibility of life.

Here’s an article about Enceladus and the chance that it could support life.

Water plumes from Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus…

Here are a couple of videos on the same topic.

Ingredients for Life at Saturn’s Moon Enceladus

Saturn’s Moon Enceladus

Saturn’s invisible ring, and two faced moon

The largest ring in the solar system is nearly impossible to see. Not even the Cassini mission, which spent 13 years orbiting Saturn, was able to see it. Just to make things more interesting, Saturn also has a now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t moon. As it happens, these two oddities are related, so we relate them.

Here are a couple of articles about the Phoebe ring.

Saturn's largest ring

Huge 'ghost' ring discovered around Saturn

Here’s an article about the two faces of Iapetus.

Astronomers decode two-faced moon

Here’s something on Iapetus’s equatorial ridge.

What's this ridge on Iapetus?

And here are a couple little pages on a couple of little Saturnian moons, Pan and Atlas.

In Depth | Pan

In Depth | Atlas

Saturn’s strangest moon is such a gas

The second largest moon is arguably the strangest. From lakes of liquid natural gas, to its thick atmosphere, to magic islands that come and go, join us for a look at Saturn’s moon Titan.

Here’s a video about the lander and its landing on Titan.

Cassini-Huygens: Historic adventure

Here’s a video about the Cassini mission in general.

What Did Cassini See During Its Historic Mission To Saturn?

Here’s an article about how deep the largest sea on Titan gets.

Largest sea on Saturn's mysterious moon Titan could be more than 1,000 feet deep

Here’s an article about one theory that attempts to explain the magic island phenomenon.

'Magic Islands' on Saturn Moon May Be Bubbles

And here’s an article about one of the theories of where Titan got its thick atmosphere.

Understanding The Origin Of Titan's Thick, Nitrogen-Rich Atmosphere

Saturn’s rings and things

You can’t look at Saturn without noticing the rings. So, we take a closer look at Saturn’s rings. The episode ended up a bit longer than usual as the closer you look at them, the more complicated they become.

Here’s a video about one way Saturn may have got it’s spectacular rings.

How Saturn Got Its Rings

Here’s a calculator and explanation for how to calculate centrifugal force.

Centrifugal Force Calculator

Here’s a site about how and why you weigh slightly less on Earth’s equator than at the poles.

Do I weigh less on the equator than at the North Pole?

Here’s a site on how to find how far and how fast you’re falling.

Determining How Fast? and How Far?

Here’s a site on the Cassini Grand Finale.

Cassini's Death Dive into Saturn Reveals Weird Ring 'Rain' & Other Surprises

Here’s a site on Saturn’s weirdest ring, the F ring.

Saturn's Weirdest Ring Explained

Here’s an article about the spokes.

Spinning spokes in Saturn's rings

And here’s something on the two moons around Saturn that swop orbits every four years or so.

The Orbital Dance of Epimetheus and Janus

Saturn spins me right round baby, right round

We get started with the second largest planet in the solar system with a look at strangely spinning strange things.

Here are a couple of sites about Saturn.

Saturn 101

Saturn Information and Facts

And here are a couple of videos on the hexagon around Saturn’s north pole.

Saturn’s hexagon mega-storm

The Mystery of Saturn’s Giant Hexagonal Storm May Soon Be Solved

Jupiter’s turn

In previous episodes, we talked of Jupiter’s rings, moons, and magnetic field. This time, we finally talk about the actual planet.

Here’s a video that goes into detail about Jupiter’s large and complex atmosphere.

Jupiter’s 3D Atmosphere Revealed by NASA’s Juno Spacecraft

And here are a couple of articles about the 2016 impact event.

Another Impact on Jupiter?

Jupiter hit by asteroid or comet in March 2016.

It’s just like the ocean, under the moon

We’ve save the best of Jupiter’s moons for last. Europa, which has a subsurface ocean that could hold twice the water as all of Earth’s oceans combined. What, if any, kind of life might we find there?

Here’s a video about Jupiter’s moon Europa.

The Highest Resolution Images of Europa

And here are a couple of articles about Europa, its possible liquid water oceans, and the possibilities for life.

Europa, Jupiter’s possible watery moon

Ingredient for Life Common on Jupiter Moon Europa

The exploding, electrified moon

This time we spend time with IO—the most volcanically active body in the solar system; and how it interacts with Jupiter’s magnetic field.

Here’s a video on how a gravity assist works.

What's a gravity assist?

Here’s a site about gravity assists.

Gravity assist

Here’s a site on the Galileo mission.

Lessons from NASA's Galileo Probe

Here’s a site about Io.

This is our best look yet at Io, the solar system's most volcanic object

Here’s a nifty video about Io.

The Bizarre Characteristics of Io

And a site for kids about the tidal forces acting on Io.

High Tide on IO!

Jupiter’s rings and things

We talk of Calisto, the inner moons, Jupiter’s rings and irregular satellites.

Here’s an article about how the Galileo spacecraft discovered where Jupiter’s rings come from.

Galileo finds Jupiter's rings formed by dust blasted off small moons

Here’s a site on Calisto.

Facts About Jupiter's (Not So) Dead Moon

And here’s an article about the collision that may have formed a new ring around Jupiter within the very recent past.

Moon marriage may have given Jupiter a ring

A song of Ganymede

The biggest moon orbits the biggest planet. We talk of Ganymede, how it may harbor life, and listen to the giant moon sing.

Here are a couple of articles about how the four largest moons of Jupiter might be heating one another.

How Jupiter’s moons warm each other

Jupiter's moons could be warming each other

Here’s an article about how Jupiter’s moons may have formed.

The Dance of Jupiter's Moons

Here’s an article about how some data from the Juno mission was turned into an audio file.

Jupiter's Moon Ganymede Sounds Like Dial-Up Internet

And here’s the audio.

Audio of Juno’s Ganymede Flyby