The Gallilean Satellites
Comparing the Gallilean Satellites
Image courtesy of: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/callisto/c-summary.html
Moon |
Mass kg |
Radius km |
Density g/cm^3 |
Distance from Jupiter km |
Surface features |
Ganymede |
1.48e23 |
2631 |
1.94 |
1,070,000 |
icy |
Callisto |
1.08e23 |
2400 |
1.86 |
1,883,000 |
cratered |
Io |
8.93e22 |
1815 |
3.57 |
422,000 |
cratered |
Europa |
4.8e22 |
1564 |
3.01 |
670,900 |
smooth |
Jupiter has many other moons. Some of them are believed to be remnants of asteroids that were caught by Jupiter and broken up. Two such groups are: Ananke, Carme, Pasiphae and Sinope, and Leda, Himalia, Lysithea and Elara. These eight moons make up the group that is farthest out from their planet, at approximately 23 million km and 11 million km, respectively.
In recent years, more moons have been discovered. Some of them have been named, and some haven't. They are believed to be more remnants of captured asteroids, but that has yet to be proven. For more information on these new moons, please visit http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/1999j1.html
photos courtesy of: www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/moons/moons.html