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You are here: Home / Space / Who Discovered Jupiter’s Largest Moon Ganymede, What Is Ganymede Made of, and How Did It Get Its Name?

Who Discovered Jupiter’s Largest Moon Ganymede, What Is Ganymede Made of, and How Did It Get Its Name?

May 1, 2020 by Karen Hill

Galileo Galilei was the first astronomer to observe Jupiter’s moon Ganymede on January 7, 1610.

Ganymede, made mostly of ice and rock, is the third farthest Galilean moon from Jupiter and is the planet’s largest satellite.

Ganymede is also the biggest moon, or satellite in our solar system.

Its surface is cratered, like Jupiter’s farthest moon, Callisto, and our Moon, but there are large areas of ridges and valleys.

This seems to result from tension due to the stretching of Ganymede’s surface.

Some areas split to form grooves while the surrounding area remains high.

Water appears to seep out from under the moon’s surface, which causes some of the craters and valleys to appear very bright.

Ganymede was named after mythological Ganymede, cupbearer of the Greek gods and Zeus’s beloved.

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Filed Under: Space

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « When Was Jupiter’s Sixth Moon Europa Discovered, How Did Europa Get Its Name, and What Is It Made Of?
Next Post: How Fast Do Jupiter’s Moons Orbit the Planet and What Is the Difference In Orbital Period Between the Moons? »

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