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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.
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]
(See Other moons of Earth and Quasi-satellite.) Mars has two known moons , Phobos and Deimos ("fear" and "dread", after attendants of Ares , the Greek god of war, equivalent to the Roman Mars). Searches for more satellites have been unsuccessful, putting the maximum radius of any other satellites at 90 m (100 yd).
All together, Jupiter's moons form a satellite system called the Jovian system. The most massive of the moons are the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, which were independently discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and Simon Marius and were the first objects found to orbit a body that was neither Earth nor the Sun.
A natural satellite is, in the most common usage, an astronomical body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body (or sometimes another natural satellite). Natural satellites are colloquially referred to as moons , a derivation from the Moon of Earth .
For simplicity and comparative purposes, the values are manually calculated assuming that the bodies are all spheres. The size of solid bodies does not include an object's atmosphere. For example, Titan looks bigger than Ganymede, but its solid body is smaller.
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.
Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO) was a part of the international Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM). [3] It was a proposed orbiter by the ESA slated for lift-off in 2020. [ 1 ] Plans for the mission include detailed studies of Jupiter's moons, Ganymede and Callisto , as well as the Jovian magnetosphere .