Pisces Constellation

Up in the north sky, the star constellation Pisces can be seen tonight. This is a zodiac constellation where its name in Latin means fish. This was named by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy. The location of the Pisces is found in the first quadrant of the northern hemisphere and holds the galaxy Messier 74 inside of it (Constellation Guide). There are many stories from ancient civilizations that describe this constellation in their stories. One of the many interesting stories come from the Greeks where it is thought that there are two fish attached to each end. In the story, Aphrodite and Eros tie themselves together, turned themselves in fishes, and escaped into the sea. They were escaping from the destruction of Mount Olympus (Astronomy Guide).
While gazing at this constellation during the night, it is important to remember that it is only visible without air pollution and only shows during the months between August and January (Constellation Guide).

Picture drawn by Victoria Wynecoop

Citation:

Astronomy Guide: Solar System Quick. Pisces Constellation. 2015. Date of Access: Nov. 9, 2015. 

Constellation Guide: A Guide To The Night Sky. Pisces Constellation. Omega WordPress. 2015.                    Web. Date of access: Nov. 9, 2015. 

Jupiter Moons

Tonight, four moons of Jupiter can be seen from the night sky. These are referred to as the Galilean moons where they are individually named as Lo, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.They were discovered by Galileo Galilee and are named after him in his honor.  According to the article by Matt Williams, Jupiter holds the most moons out of all the solar planets in our solar system. The moons of Jupiter are rather interesting because they are so vastly different from one another that they are placed into categories to distinguish them (Williams). By focusing on the four big moons of Jupiter, Lo is considered to be the most volcanic in the solar system. This is because the atmosphere of Lo is very thin and mainly composed of sulfur dioxide. Europa is considered to be the smallest of the Galilean moons and is slightly smaller than the Earth's moon. On the surface of Europa, there is ice that is cracked and many researchers question what could be underneath it (Casani). Compared to Europa, Ganymede is the biggest in the solar system. The characteristics of Ganymede is bright and smooth on one side, and dark and heavily cratered on the other side. It is overall an icy moon and is created through a liquid iron core (Casani).  Callisto is an interesting moon compared to the other three. This moon travels around Jupiter at its own pace and lacks an iron core. It also has a thin atmosphere with carbon dioxide surrounding it (Williams). 

The Four Moons of Jupiter

Picture by Harvard Microobservatory

Citation

Leutwyler, Kristin. "The Moons of Jupiter." New York: Nevraumont Publishing Company, 2003.                      Print.

Williams, Matt. "What Are the Moons of Jupiter?" Universe Today. Web. Sept. 14, 2015. Retrieved 

              from http://www.universetoday.com/52061/moons-of-jupiter/