It seems fitting that in a year being celebrated worldwide as the 400th anniversary of telescopic astronomy, NASA and ESA have chosen one of Galileo's first loves, Jupiter, as their next top planet.
Cut-away images show the insides of Io, Ganymede, ...
In January of 1610 the famed Italian Galileo Galilei pointed a homemade 'scope at the heavens and witnessed something shocking: four "stars" moving in fixed paths around Jupiter.
What he saw were actually the gas giant's four biggest moons, which became known as the Galilean satellites—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
... Europa, and Callisto
—Images courtesy NASA/JPL
The tiniest of these, Europa, is only slightly smaller than Earth's moon. In fact, if it weren't for big, fat Jupiter's light drowning them out, people on Earth would be able to see all four of the satellites without the aid of a telescope.
Today NASA and ESA announced that Jupiter and its four famous moons will get priority as science targets for the next flagship mission, following in the footsteps of Cassini (Saturn) and New Horizons (Pluto).
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