What are Ganymede Io Europa and Callisto?
The Galilean moons (or Galilean satellites) /ɡælɪˈliːən/ are the four largest moons of Jupiter—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System, and is even bigger than the planet Mercury, though only around half as massive.
How is Europa Unlike Ganymede and Callisto?
Contrary to Ganymede and Callisto, Europa (diameter 1,940 miles or 3,121 kilometers) has a sparsely cratered surface, indicating that geologic activity took place more recently. Globally, ridged plains and the so-called “mottled terrain” are the main landforms.
What do the moons Io Europa Ganymede and Callisto have in common?
The largest four moons of Jupiter – Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto – were discovered by Galileo in 1610 and are known as the Galilean moons. They each have a radii larger than any of the dwarf planets and they are some of the largest objects in the solar system outside of the eight planets by mass.
Why are the moons of Europa Ganymede and Callisto of interest?
Formation. Jupiter’s large Galilean satellites (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) likely formed out of leftover material after Jupiter condensed from the initial cloud of gas and dust surrounding the sun, early in the history of the solar system.
What are the names of the Galilean satellites?
The Galilean satellites were first seen by the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610. Shown from left to right in order of increasing distance from Jupiter, Io is closest, followed by Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
How the resonance among Io Europa and Ganymede make their orbits slightly elliptical and how that causes thermal heating?
Explain how the resonance among Io, Europa, and Ganymede makes their orbits slightly elliptical. For every orbit that Ganymede completes around Jupiter, Europa completes exactly two orbits and Io completes exactly four. Therefore, the moons’ orbits become slightly elliptical over time.
What do the Galilean satellites orbit?
The planet Jupiter’s four largest moons, or satellites, are called the Galilean moons, after Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, who observed them in 1610.
Does Ganymede Have cliffs or cracks?
Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is covered in cracks that may be evidence of a huge collision, making them the largest known impact structure in the solar system.
Where do the four names Io Europa Ganymede and Callisto originate from?
Jupiter
67 moons orbit the great gas giant Jupiter; of these, the four largest are known as the Galilean moons, having been discovered by Galileo Galilei using his telescope in 1610. The four moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, in order of distance from Jupiter. (Their names derive from lovers of Zeus.)
Does Titan Moon have water?
It is the sole other place in the solar system known to have an earthlike cycle of liquids raining from clouds, flowing across its surface, filling lakes and seas, and evaporating back into the sky (akin to Earth’s water cycle). Titan is also thought to have a subsurface ocean of water.
What are the 4 Galilean satellites?
A comparison “portrait” of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons Io, Europa, Gany- mede, and Callisto, each with different characteristics.
What is the interiors of Europa Ganymede and Io like?
The interiors of Io, Europa, and Ganymede have a layered. structure (as does Earth). Io has a core, and a mantle of partially molten rock, topped by a crust of solid rock coated with sulfur compounds.
How does Ganymede’s landscape differ from Callisto?
Ganymede’s landscape is also widely formed by impacts, but different from Callisto, much tectonic deformation can be observed in the Galileo images, such as these of Nicholson Regio. Ganymede, with a diameter of about 3,300 miles or 5,268 kilometers (one-and-a-half times larger than the Earth’s moon), is the largest moon in the solar system.
How big is Ganymede from Galileo?
This global view was obtained in June 1997 when Galileo was 1.25 million kilometers from Europa; the finest details that can be discerned are 25 kilometers across. Ganymede, larger than the planet Mercury, is the largest Jovian satellite. Its distinctive surface is characterized by patches of dark and light terrain.
How did Callisto get its name?
Callisto was discovered Jan. 7, 1610, by Italian scientist Galileo Galilei along with Jupiter’s three other largest moons: Ganymede, Europa and Io. Callisto is named for a woman turned into a bear by Zeus in Greek mythology. Zeus is identical to the Roman god Jupiter. Size and Distance.