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They are planetary-mass moons and among the largest objects in the Solar System. All four, along with Titan, Triton, and Earth's Moon, are larger than any of the Solar System's dwarf planets. The largest, Ganymede, is the largest moon in the Solar System and surpasses the planet Mercury in size (though not mass). Callisto is only slightly ...
Ganymede, or Jupiter III, is the largest and most massive natural satellite of Jupiter, and in the Solar System. Despite being the only moon in the Solar System with a substantial magnetic field , it is the largest Solar System object without a substantial atmosphere.
The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object is listed in chronological order of its discovery (multiple dates occur when the moments of imaging, observation, and publication differ), identified through its various designations (including temporary and permanent schemes), and the ...
Discovery and exploration of the Solar System is observation, visitation, and increase in knowledge and understanding of Earth's "cosmic neighborhood". [1] This includes the Sun , Earth and the Moon , the major planets Mercury , Venus , Mars , Jupiter , Saturn , Uranus , and Neptune , their satellites , as well as smaller bodies including ...
Ganymede is the only satellite in the Solar System known to possess a magnetosphere, likely created through convection within the liquid iron core. The satellite has a thin oxygen atmosphere that includes O, O 2, and possibly O 3. Ganymede's discovery is credited to Galileo Galilei, who observed it in 1610.
1610 – Galileo Galilei observes the four main moons of Jupiter: Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, and Io; [78] sees Saturn's planetary rings (but does not recognize that they are rings), [79] and observes the phases of Venus, [80] disproving the Ptolemaic system though not the geocentric model.
The internal structure of Ganymede. Galileo returned to Ganymede on orbits G7 and G9 in April and May 1997, and on G28 and G29 in May and December 2000 on the GMM. [217] Images of the surface revealed two types of terrain: highly cratered dark regions and grooved terrain sulcus. Images of the Arbela Sulcus taken on G28 made Ganymede look more ...
The distinction between a satellite and a classical planet was not recognized until after the heliocentric model of the Solar System was established. When in 1610 Galileo discovered the first satellites of another planet (the four Galilean moons of Jupiter), he referred to them as "four planets flying around the star of Jupiter at unequal intervals and periods with wonderful swiftness."