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Jupiter's Moons
Ganymede At a Glance
Discovery
1610, Galileo Galilei
Diameter
3,270 miles
5,262 km
Distance from Jupiter
665,000 miles
1.1 million km
Orbital Period
7.2 days
Compare Moons
Ganymede and Callisto: Ice Worlds
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Ganymede is the solar system's largest moon -- larger than the planet Mercury. It consists of about half ice and half rock and metal. Grooves and ridges that crisscross its surface indicate that it has undergone great changes over the eons.

During several passes, the Galileo spacecraft saw mountains of ice, plus sheets of ice that erupted from volcanoes. It also saw deep canyons and broad, smooth plains created by the motions of Ganymede's crust.

Jupiter's Moons

Callisto At a Glance
Discovery
1610, Galileo Galilei
Diameter
2,985 miles
4,806 km
Distance from Jupiter
1.2 million miles
1.9 million km
Orbital Period
16.7 days
Compare Moons

Callisto
Like Europa, Callisto's icy surface may conceal an ocean. The case for an ocean is more tentative, but it is bolstered by a huge basin on one side of the moon. It was created by a powerful impact billions of years ago.

But there is no jumble of rocks and mountains on the opposite side of Callisto, as there is with big impact basins on our own moon. A deep ocean could have cushioned the impact, preventing shock waves from piling up rocks half a world away.

Keywords

Galileo to Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter's Great Red Spot
Jupiter's Moons
Planetary Rings
Voyager Probes

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