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A recent study suggests that a massive impact billions of years ago may have caused Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede, to become reoriented. Researchers at Kobe University in Japan studied Ganymede's furrow system, which is believed to be remnants of the largest impact structure in the outer solar system. Through simulations, they determined that the impactor responsible likely had a diameter of about 150 kilometers, much larger than the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs on Earth. The impact would have breached Ganymede's icy crust and created a region of stronger gravity, causing the moon to reorient over time. However, accurately estimating the size of the impactor is challenging due to limited data on Ganymede's gravity and topography. [Extracted from the article]

If the original bombarding asteroids were just 10 per cent water, the lower limit for C-type meteorites, they would have deposited enough of it to create a global ocean (illustrated above), say the researchers. Solar system THE space rocks that bombarded Mars during the early days of the inner solar system may have carried enough water to create a 300-metre-deep ocean there. [Extracted from the article]