Pictures of Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto
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The four Galilean satellites: from left to right: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto - shown to scale. These moons are named after Galileo Galilei who discovered them in 1610.
Galileo's sketch of Jupiter's moons
The black spots on Io are volcanic caulderas. Cracks are visible on Europa. Ganymede has many wide and deep bright grooves. Callisto has many large impact basins - there is a large one on the bottom right of the last picture. Pictures by NASA's Voyager spacecraft and NASA's Galileo spacecraft.
The four Galilean Satellites (Jupiters largest 4 moons) - from left to right: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Main features of these moons are: Io has currently active volcanoes and lava flows, Europa is icy, Callisto has many craters and Ganymede is larger than the planet Mercury.
The white and bluish spots on Europa are frozen water. The brown areas are covered by salt. Ganymede has frost on its north and south poles.
Picture of the Galilean Moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto - from top to bottom. The Great Red Spot of Jupiter is on the left. The photos of Io, Ganymede and Europa is by NASA's Galileo spacecraft, Callisto by NASA's Voyager.Olaus Roemer used Jupiter's moons to measure the speed of light in 1676.
Mini summary of the Galilean Moons:
Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system. Ganymede is cratered and grooved and has frost on its bright poles.
Europa may have a liquid ocean beneath its crust. Has a very smooth, icy blue and white surface. Very few impact craters, but have some cracks/fractures.
Callisto has many impact craters on its crust (surface), many large impact basins too. Has the darkest color.
Io has active volcanoes, volcanic plumes, lava flows. Io is yellow and white with some red spots.
Some questions about these pictures of Jupiter's 4 largest moons
Lets see what you have learned from these pictures ...
- Which moon is Jupiter's largest moon?
- Name the 4 Galilean moons.
- Who discovered all the Galilean moons? When?
- Give one main feature of each of the four largest moons of Jupiter.
- Which moon has currently active volcanoes?
- Which moon of Jupiter is mainly yellow?
- Which moon of Jupiter is white?
- Which moons are dark with many white spots?
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