What is the origin of the jovian moons?

Answer 1

Two reasons.

Firstly, Jupiter is extremely massive - 318 times the Mass of Earth. Anything passing near to it will either be flung out of the solar system, ripped apart by gravitational tides, or captured into orbit.

Secondly, Jupiter orbits just beyond the Asteroid Belt, which contains perhaps more than a million Asteroids ranging from 1 kilometer in size to 1,000 kilometers - and countless more that are smaller. Most of Jupiter's large flock of moons are most likely captured asteroids that wandered too near the gas giant to escape, but not so close they were ripped to pieces. I think that Jupiter has many moons because of the fact that it has to hold plenty of asteroids in the asteroid belt.

Answer 2

Most of the moons around the Jovian Planets are actually very much like the Jovians themselves. They are formed of lighter rock and ice, with very little heavy metals (which tend to "sink" towards the sun during the formation of the solar system). The outer parts of the solar system had more debris in them simply because of the way the system was formed. When our star was born and finally began to shine, it literally blew all the debris that had not yet fallen into it out towards the edges of the solar system. The lighter materials (gas, ice, and lighter rock) were blasted the furthest out before they began to collect into balls that we now call the Jovians. The big planets were formed simply by many thousands of smaller ones globbing together because of gravity. As the planets got bigger, the gravity increased and attracted even more debris (debris can include gas clouds). Simple random chance allowed many of the debris planetoids to avoid colliding with the Jovians as they formed, and simply stayed in orbit as moons. (A look at the asteroid belt seems to support this. The asteroid belt is believed to be the area that a planet would have formed, if Jupiter had not been forming "nearby". It is believed that Jupiter's gravity field kept pulling the debris apart, preventing it from massing into a cohesive planet.) Also, after things had calmed down quite a bit in the solar system, the immense gravity fields of the Jovians has allowed them to capture asteroids and comets to beef up their satellite roster. So, the answer has several parts, Jovians have more moons because: There was more debris to work with the farther out you went in the solar system There were many more smaller planetoids forming to be drawn towards the developing planets The fully developed planets had such massive gravity that they were able to capture more moons as time passed

Answer 3

It is based on the magnetic field and electrical current of the planets. Even the sun in a sense has rings and moons. (asteroid belt, planets). Basically every planet that has a magnetic field has rings with the exception of the earth. But we are also the only planet that is knocked off its axis (weakening the magnetic field). In other words the only planet were the moon doesn't orbit the equator.

We know from studying the magnetism of rocks that at one point the earths magnetic field was 3 times strong then today, the earth could have been on its axis and possibly with rings that would contain gas and sediments from the earth water dirt etc. If the magnetic field just faded we would still have rings mostly of rock and dirt but because we were knocked off are axis the rings would have been destroyed. Mars used to have a magnetic field but no longer does, we know this because there is a faint remains of an atmosphere 1% of the amount of earths atmosphere from the remaining ice, and it also has 2 moons.

The moons would be magnetically aligned to the planets and electrically charged, this is what makes the craters and scaring on moons (Yes, at one time maybe the moons lit up electrically. It also might be the reason Mars shorted out, there is a huge electrical scare on Mars.

This answer is based in a plasma cosmology theory. If you want a big bang answer then you believe big rocks smashed into planets and then started to rotate around them and the rings are just debre that has perfectly aligned itself around the equator.

If you are laughing at my response Try this, study if electrical currents can create rings, and then study if smashing rocks together can create rings. In a big bang universe everything is by chance, in a plasma universe everything is cause and effect.

Answer 4

The four Galilean moons formed with Jupiter, most others were later captures.

Answer 5

They were formed by condensatoin and accretion in a disk of gas around the planet

Answer 6

BECAUSE IT IS SO BIG.