In Depth | Ganymede – NASA Solar System Exploration
In Depth Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is proving to be a fascinating world. Not only is it the largest moon in our solar system, bigger than the planet Mercury and the dwarf planet Pluto, but NASA’s Hubble …
In Depth | Europa – NASA Solar System Exploration
Formation Jupiter’s large Galilean moons – Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto – likely formed out of leftover material after Jupiter condensed from the initial cloud of gas and dust surrounding the sun, …
In Depth | Jupiter Moons – NASA Solar System Exploration
NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.
In Depth | Io – NASA Solar System Exploration
Jupiter's rocky moon Io is the most volcanically active world in the solar system, with hundreds of volcanoes, some erupting lava fountains dozens of miles (or kilometers) high. Io’s remarkable activity …
In Depth | Callisto – NASA Solar System Exploration
Callisto is Jupiter’s second largest moon and the third largest moon in our solar system. It’s about the same size as Mercury. In the past, some scientists thought of Callisto as a boring “ugly duckling …
In Depth | Amalthea – NASA Solar System Exploration
Amalthea and the moon Thebe provide the material for the Gossamer ring. Since Io orbits about 422,000 km above Jupiter and, at this close distance, is subjected to extreme tidal flexing from …
In Depth | Earth's Moon – NASA Solar System Exploration
The brightest and largest object in our night sky, the Moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate. It also causes …
In Depth | Moons – NASA Solar System Exploration
In the outer solar system, the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune have dozens of moons. As these planets grew in the early solar system, they were able to capture smaller …
Europa By the Numbers – NASA Solar System Exploration
May 16, 2024 · Europa is one of the largest of Jupiter’s more than 90 moons. It's the sixth-closest moon to the planet.
In Depth | Metis – NASA Solar System Exploration
Discovery Metis was discovered in March 1979 by the Voyager science team. Overview Orbiting within Io's orbit, which is the innermost of the four largest moons of Jupiter (called the Galilean moons), are …