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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.
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]
A montage of Jupiter and its four largest moons (distance and sizes not to scale) There are 95 moons of Jupiter with confirmed orbits as of 5 February 2024. [1] [note 1] This number does not include a number of meter-sized moonlets thought to be shed from the inner moons, nor hundreds of possible kilometer-sized outer irregular moons that were only briefly captured by telescopes. [4]
Some models predict that there may have been several generations of Galilean satellites in Jupiter's early history. Each generation of moons to have formed would have spiraled into Jupiter and been destroyed, due to tidal interactions with Jupiter's proto-satellite disk, with new moons forming from the remaining debris. By the time the present ...
Leda / ˈ l iː d ə /, also known as Jupiter XIII, is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter.It was discovered by Charles T. Kowal at the Mount Palomar Observatory on September 14, 1974, after three nights' worth of photographic plates had been taken (September 11 through 13; Leda appears on all of them).
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 .
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)
Eccentricity is indicated by yellow bars illustrating the object's maximum and minimum distances from Jupiter. Circles illustrate an object's size in comparison to the others. The Himalia group is a group of prograde irregular satellites of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Himalia and are thought to have a common origin. [1]