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Whether Ganymede has an ionosphere associated with its atmosphere is unresolved. [24] Ganymede's surface is composed of two main types of terrain, the first of which are lighter regions, generally crosscut by extensive grooves and ridges, dating from slightly less than 4 billion years ago, covering two-thirds of Ganymede.
It is the only satellite in the Solar System known to possess a magnetosphere, likely created through convection within the liquid iron core. [43] Ganymede is composed primarily of silicate rock and water ice, and a salt-water ocean is believed to exist nearly 200 km below Ganymede's surface, sandwiched between layers of ice. [44]
Investigation of Ganymede's tenuous atmosphere; Study of Ganymede's intrinsic magnetic field and its interactions with the Jovian magnetosphere. For Europa, the focus is on the chemistry essential to life, including organic molecules, and on understanding the formation of surface features and the composition of the non-water-ice material ...
Liquid water is thought by most astrobiologists to be an essential prerequisite for extraterrestrial life. There is growing evidence of subsurface liquid water on several moons in the Solar System orbiting the gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. However, none of these subsurface bodies of water has been confirmed to date.
This indicated the presence of water ions, which were most likely water molecules that had been dislodged from the surface ice and then ionized by the Sun or the Jovian magnetosphere. The presence of an ionosphere was sufficient to deduce the existence of a thin atmosphere on Europa. [207]
A radio-science experiment analyzed Ganymede's gravitational field and internal structure. The instruments detected evidence of a self-generated magnetosphere around the moon. G2 260 (161) 6 September 1996 A Ganymede gravity-assist put Galileo into coplanar orbit with other Galilean satellites, permitting subsequent encounters with them. A ...
Jupiter and Ganymede: En route Mission to study Jupiter's three icy moons Callisto, Europa and Ganymede, eventually orbiting Ganymede as the first spacecraft to orbit a satellite of another planet. European Union: Euclid: Earth-Sun L 2 point: Operational: It is ESA's project for a space telescope to study dark matter.
Planetary-mass satellites larger than Pluto, the largest Solar dwarf planet. The three largest satellites Ganymede, Titan, and Callisto are of similar size or larger than the planet Mercury; these and four more – Io, the Moon, Europa, and Triton – are larger and more massive than the largest and most massive dwarf planets, Pluto and Eris.