Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System, being able (figuratively) to introduce 1320 Earths into its interior. ESA's JUICE mission, launched in 2023, is on its way to this planet to study environments with liquid water under the surface of its icy moons. Galilean moons are the largest ones, called like that in honor of their discoverer,Galileo Galilei. There are four of them and they are called, in order from the closest to the farthest from the planet, Io, Callisto, Ganymede and Europa.

 

In this experience, students will calculate, based on the laws of orbital dynamics, the mass of the planet Jupiter to  understand better the gravitational effects on the journey of planetary missions.  To do this, we will study the motion of one of Jupiter's largest moons around the planet and consider an ideal case of a circular orbit, using three methods:

• Team 1: Data on the relative positions of Jupiter and its Galilean moons taken by Galileo
• Team 2: Real-time data of the movement of Jupiter and its moons in Stellarium and use of paper and calculator.
• Team 3: Real-time data of the motion of Jupiter and its moons in Stellarium and use of Jupyter Notebook for calculations.

 

RECOMMENDED AGE: 16-18 years

KEY COMPETENCES (LOMLOE):

• Competence in science, technology and engineering
• Digital competence
• Competence of learning to learn

DIDACTIC OBJECTIVES:

• Development of critical and autonomous thinking through the formulation of hypotheses and their validation: Kepler's third law
• Apply equality of forces (gravitational and centripetal-centrifugal) to estimate the mass of the dominant body in the two-body system.
• Apply trigonometry to estimate planetary distances.
• Use digital tools (Stellarium) and observational data.
• Understand the scale of the solar system.
• Understand the concept of angular radius and angular period.

MATERIALS:

• Data taken by Galileo Galilei from positions of Jupiter and its moons (Team 1)
• Computer with internet access
• The Stellarium app installed (Team 2)
• Jupyter Notebook (Team 3)

INCLUSION:

• Activity suitable for students with calculation difficulties (use of calculator)
• Activity suitable for students with ASD (visual and graphic explanations).