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Planetary science: 1979–1982
Author(s) -
Squyres Steven W.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
reviews of geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.087
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1944-9208
pISSN - 8755-1209
DOI - 10.1029/rg021i002p00139
Subject(s) - astrobiology , enceladus , venus , titan (rocket family) , solar system , geology , planet , mars exploration program , icy moon , jupiter (rocket family) , saturn , planetary science , astronomy , physics , space exploration
It is not an exaggeration to say that the past four years have brought a growth in our knowledge of the solar system unprecedented in all of history. Prior to this quadrennium, our closeup exploration of the planets had been limited to the atmosphere and a few surface sites on Venus, the surfaces of Mercury, the Moon, Mars, Phobos, and Deimos, and an intriguing but limited glimpse at Jupiter. To this list have been added the global topography of Venus, and a wide variety of data on Jupiter, Amalthea, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Saturn, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Phoebe. Among the recent discoveries are continent‐sized landforms on Venus, a ring encircling Jupiter, the most volcanically active surface in the solar system on Io, hitherto unknown forms of global tectonism on icy Europa, Ganymede, and Enceladus, and intricate structure within Saturn's rings.