Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The sizes and masses of many of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn are fairly well known due to numerous observations and interactions of the Galileo and Cassini orbiters; however, many of the moons with a radius less than ~100 km, such as Jupiter's Himalia, have far less certain masses. [5]
As the below graph demonstrates, the maximum absolute magnitude (total inherent brightness, abbreviated H) of moons we have detected around planets occurs at H = 18 for Jupiter, H = 17 for Saturn, H = 14 for Uranus, and H = 12 for Neptune. Smaller moons may (and most likely do) exist around each of these planets, but are currently undetectable ...
Like Saturn's largest moon Titan, it is larger than the planet Mercury, but has somewhat less surface gravity than Mercury, Io, or the Moon due to its lower density compared to the three. [18] Ganymede orbits Jupiter in roughly seven days and is in a 1:2:4 orbital resonance with the moons Europa and Io, respectively.
Himalia (/ h ɪ ˈ m eɪ l i ə, h ɪ ˈ m ɑː l i ə /), also known as Jupiter VI, is the largest irregular satellite of Jupiter. With a diameter of at least 140 km (90 mi), [ 5 ] it is the sixth largest Jovian satellite , after the four Galilean moons and Amalthea .
For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us
In both the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, Jupiter was named after the chief god of the divine pantheon: Zeus to the Greeks and Jupiter to the Romans. [19] The International Astronomical Union formally adopted the name Jupiter for the planet in 1976 and has since named its newly discovered satellites for the god's lovers, favourites, and descendants. [20]
The Galilean moons are named after Galileo Galilei, who observed them in either December 1609 or January 1610, and recognized them as satellites of Jupiter in March 1610; [2] they remained the only known moons of Jupiter until the discovery of the fifth largest moon of Jupiter Amalthea in 1892. [3]
The Ananke group is a group of retrograde irregular satellites of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Ananke and are thought to have a common origin. Their semi-major axes (distances from Jupiter) range between 19.2 and 21.8 Gm, their orbital inclinations between 144.3° and 155.5°, and their orbital eccentricities between 0.09 and 0.30.