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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.
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]
Jupiter's magnetic field is the strongest and second-largest contiguous structure in the Solar System, generated by eddy currents within the fluid, metallic hydrogen core. The solar wind interacts with the magnetosphere , extending it outward and affecting Jupiter's orbit.
NASA's Juno spacecraft captured this view of Jupiter during the mission's 54th close flyby of the giant planet Sept. 7, 2023.
At least 19 of them are large enough to be gravitationally rounded; of these, all are covered by a crust of ice except for Earth's Moon and Jupiter's Io. [1] Several of the largest ones are in hydrostatic equilibrium and would therefore be considered dwarf planets or planets if they were in direct orbit around the Sun and not in their current ...
Jupiter and Europa science probe with an ETA in 2030. Solar Orbit on route to Jupiter: In service: 2024– Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer: 5,963 kg (13,146 lb) Jupiter science probe and Ganymede orbiter with an ETA in 2031. Solar Orbit on route to Ganymede: In service: 2023– Falcon Heavy test flight: 5,900 kg (13,007 lb)
The seven largest natural satellites in the Solar System (those bigger than 2,500 km across) are Jupiter's Galilean moons (Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa), Saturn's moon Titan, Earth's moon, and Neptune's captured natural satellite Triton. Triton, the smallest of these, has more mass than all smaller natural satellites together.
The largest of these may have a hydrostatic-equilibrium shape, but most are irregular. Most of the trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) listed with a radius smaller than 200 km have " assumed sizes based on a generic albedo of 0.09" since they are too far away to directly measure their sizes with existing instruments.