Jupiter has sixteen known satellites, but astronomers believe there could be more.
The discovery of the four largest, Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa, is credited to Galileo, who recorded them in 1610.
The average diameter of the Galilean moons measures 2,540 miles (4,230 km), whereas the average diameter of the other Jovian moons is a mere 40 miles (67 km).
We can’t discern much detail about the smaller moons from Earth.
A celestial object recorded in the fourth century B.C. in China may have been Jupiter’s moon Ganymede.
This calls into question whether Galileo was really the first to identify Jovian moons.
Ganymede is the largest moon that orbits Jupiter, at 5262.4 km in diameter.
Related Posts
-
How Far Away From Jupiter Do the Moons Orbit and How Many Different Groups Of Moons Orbit Jupiter?
Jupiter's sixteen known moons travel in three distinct groups. The first, including the four Galilean moons, ranges from 77,000 miles (124,000 km) to over 600,000 miles (960,000 km). The next group orbits from…
-
How Fast Do Jupiter’s Moons Orbit the Planet and What Is the Difference In Orbital Period Between the Moons?
Astronomers frequently use orbital period, or how long one revolution takes, to measure speed instead of miles, or kilometers per hour. The three families of satellites are clustered by period as well as…
-
How Many Moons Does Neptune Have and Which Moon Orbits the Planet Neptune In the Opposite Direction?
The planet Neptune has eight moons. The two largest moons, Nereid and Triton, were discovered soon after the planet itself, and the other six were identified by Voyager 2. Of all the satellites,…
-
Do All the Moons That Orbit Jupiter Revolve around the Planet Jupiter Together?
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…
-
What Color Is the Planet Jupiter and What Causes the Different Colors Of the Cloud Bands On the Planet Jupiter?
Jupiter's primary gases, hydrogen and helium, are colorless. Trace chemicals within the planet's gas layers, such as methane, ammonia, and phosphine, are responsible for the colors of the belts and zones. The colors…
-
How Many Moons Does the Planet Uranus Have and When Were the Moons Orbiting Uranus Discovered?
How Many Moons Does the Planet Uranus Have and How Did the Moons Orbiting Uranus Get Their Names? Before the space age, we knew of five satellites orbiting Uranus: Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania,…
