Jupiter: Sept. 17, 2010 0600 UTC

Okay, here's the last trip out past the Asteroid Belt.
For now anyways.
Maybe later in the month when Jupiter is higher in the sky, I'll take out the gear again and try to get a nice image.
So, Jupiter and the Galilean moons:



That's Callisto way out on the right, Ganymede to the left, Io is closest to the planet and finally, Europa:





Thanks to wikipedia for the image.
Europa is a little smaller than Earth's Moon and is the second closest of the Galilean moons to Jupiter. It's surface is covered with ice and because of that is the brightest of the moons.
I saved Europa for last because for me, it is the most interesting. It orbit takes 3.5 days and because of it's location it is subject to gravitational forces subjected to it by Io and Ganymede.
Because of this, it is thought that there are tidal movements beneath the ice that create heat and it is possible that there are oceans beneath the surface capable of sustaining life.
Wouldn't that be just grand? If we found life on another planet right here in our own back albeit very far away yard?
Maybe I've just read Arthur C. Clarke's 2010 too many times, but it's something I think about every time I see Jupiter and the Galilean moons. I sort of imagine some little thingys swimming around up there, waiting to be found.
Maybe.
Here's a nice shot I found of Europa and Callisto via NASA:



I don't like to think that we are alone here, but I think that if we are, we aren't doing a very good job.
I think people forget what a lonely planet spaceship Earth truly is.
Jupiter factoid:
Galileo discovered the four moons in 1610 using a 20X telescope.