Each of the images above of Jupiter and its moons were taken 1 hour apart. You may be able to tell just by looking at these images that the moons are changing position, but can you tell which is moving fastest? or if they are beginning to change direction?
With HOU-IP you can add the images together to make one composite image and then tell much more about the motion of the moons.
To complete this activity, you will need the images: jup5.fth, jup6.fth, jup7.fth, jup8.fth, jup9.fth, and jup10.fth (the image names may have .fts instead of .fth, either will work). If you do not have these images on your computer you can download them here.
HOU-IP Instructions:
The result should look something like this:
How do you think the speed of the moons change as they move farther away from Jupiter?
Why do you think the speed appears to change?
What is happening to the moon in the lower left hand corner?
