Thermal properties of the Galilean satellites.
Radiometry in the 20-micron band of eclipses of each of the four Galilean satellites of Jupiter provides information about the thermal properties of the uppermost surface layers of these bodies. Their thermal inertias are all smaller than those of the moon or of Mercury; there is no evidence for atmospheres, and where the data are of high quality vertically homogeneous thermal properties are excluded. The thermal properties, together with other observational evidence, suggest that the surfaces of these satellites are largely composed of ices. A thin coating of frost provides the upper, low-conductivity layer, while the subsurface material maintains a high thermal conductivity by fusion of a mixture of ice and rock.