Do All the Moons That Orbit Jupiter Revolve around the Planet Jupiter Together?

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Karen Hill

The moons all revolve around their host planet, Jupiter, but their orbits are different in distance, speed, and inclination of orbital plane.

This all makes for quite a bit of activity.

Jupiter’s moons act something like a microcosm, or a miniature version of the solar system, and astronomers have learned a lot about the whole solar system by studying them.

The orbits of Io, Europa, and Ganymede, some of the largest satellites in the Solar System, form a pattern known as a Laplace resonance.

The eccentricity of the moons’ orbits causes regular flexing of the three moons’ shapes.

Jupiter currently has 63 named natural satellites.

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