http://www.universetoday.com/2006/06/16/gas-giants-gobbled-up-most-of-their-moons/ Space and astronomy news Sun, 8 Nov 2009 05:58:23 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 http://www.universetoday.com/2006/06/16/gas-giants-gobbled-up-most-of-their-moons/comment-page-1/#comment-60629 bonus Sat, 28 Mar 2009 10:16:51 +0000 http://www.universetoday.com/2006/06/16/gas-giants-gobbled-up-most-of-their-moons/#comment-60629 A moon with 0,5g gravity could hold on to a thick atmosphere in the HZ for billions of years. Such gravity would require roughly 0,2 earth mass. Mars-size moons would clear their orbit around the planet. If unlucky, this would throw moons out of the planet`s orbit. If lucky, the moons would merge into one, and around a superjovian planet, this would mean more than Mars, possibly half Earth mass, which could be habitable. A moon with 0,5g gravity could hold on to a thick atmosphere in the HZ for billions of years. Such gravity would require roughly 0,2 earth mass. Mars-size moons would clear their orbit around the planet. If unlucky, this would throw moons out of the planet`s orbit. If lucky, the moons would merge into one, and around a superjovian planet, this would mean more than Mars, possibly half Earth mass, which could be habitable.

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