Do you think Io has always been in its current orbit around Jupiter?

Question

With the tidal forces acting on it, could the moon have even formed there?

Do you think it might have formed at a higher orbit then gotten knocked down into a lower orbit?

Do you think the tidal forces acting on it will eventually tear it apart and cause it to form a ring around Jupiter?

Answer 1

Hmm don't know

Answer 2

jupiter has rings just like saturn or It could just be it's moons floating around the ring to . You know that jupiter has a orbit just like the others . It is a gas giant. Just like saturn , uranus ,neptune  .They all have rings . Good luck /.  

Answer 3

Material brought back from the Apollo moon landings indicate that the moon is made up of the same material as the earth.  Combine that with the fact that the moon revolves once each orbit of the earth and there's only one conclusion you can draw.  The moon was once a piece of a larger earth.

Any theory regarding the origin of Io today is a good one. It probably was captured by Jupiter, since Jupiter has no surface. No one knows for sure yet. We have yet to sample it's soil.  Catch me sometime in the next millenia and I'll be able to give you a definite answer your question.

There's a very good chance that Io and all the moons of Jupiter will turn to dust one day.  By the way, Jupiter already has a ring system. It just wasn't visible until we sent out deep space satellites to get a closer look at Jupiter.

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/thumbn...

Answer 4

lo?

Answer 5

No.

Answer 6

Well, the word "always" is a bit strange when it comes to timespace. LOL. But I would say that "no" they Io hasn't been in it's current orbit "always". Moons are like satellites. I would say that Io was formed by a collision with Jupiter "whenever" and it's high gravity pulled it in and around it. If it wasn't for einstein and his timespace theory, it would take a long time to prove that. LOL

Just my two cents.

Answer 7

No, I think Io was birthed from Jupiter just like our moon, extreme volcanic action eons ago. Second question, no. I believe Io is becoming more dense each decade due to its own gravity and there are reports of an oxygen bubble in one of it's quadrants on the surface, so my suspicion is a new life sustaining earth-like ecosystem is very gradually developing on it.  

Answer 8

I am sure Io formed near Jupiter, but maybe not as close as it is today. Jupiter's gravity well is huge and it's effects on Io are obvious. It gets squeezed and distorted by as much as 100 meters each orbit! There is also a huge plasma torus connecting it to Jupiter. It's inconceivable that this little moon will be able to endure this kind of torture forever. Eventually it's orbit will erode, the tidal forces acting on it will become more intense until the moon shatters and forms a nice little ring around the planet. However this won't occur millions if not a billion years from now.

Answer 9

Jupiter rotates in 10 hours - much faster than Io, and such orbit.  So tidal forces should be pushing the moons out, not in.  I don't see a significant body that could be stealing Io's orbital energy.

I don't think Io formed from an impact like Earth's Moon.  It must have formed from the accretion disk as the planets did around the Sun.  Yet, Io is quite unlike the other big Moons of Jupiter.  They're the ice balls one might expect at that distance from the Sun.  Perhaps Io is captured.

I think Io is stable, and will remain that way past when the Sun turns into a white dwarf.  Io did seduce Jupiter, but as Jupiter was already married, Io didn't give him a ring.

Answer 10

Nah, I was there when it showed up. I was there /before/ it was "cool" to be a moon of Jupiter. Now everyone wants to be one of Jupiter's moons, and guess what? It's totally lame now.

Answer 11

No. I am sure it has an interesting orbit history, as it is tidal locked to Jupiter.