Monthly Members’ Night - second Wednesday of each month except January.

Tonight - HAS speaker, followed by informal chat with tea and coffee.

Tonight’s Talk

The Moons of Jupiter

Speaker: Jonathan Park (from Hamilton Astronomical Society)

Continuing with this year’s themes of “moons” and “the solar system”, we take a look at the moons of Jupiter. As of November 2024, 95 Jovian moons have been officially recognised by the International Astronomical Union. You will learn much more about this tonight - where did they come from? how do we work out which are parts of larger objects that were shattered in the past? We also take a closer look at the four Galilean moons - three with subsurface saltwater oceans and one with hundreds of active volcanos and several lava lakes! I gave a version of this talk at the observatory back in 2021, when there were only 79 recognised moons orbiting Jupiter. For those who attended back then, this will be a great opportunity to refresh your knowledge!