Triton, during its capture, must have cleared out a huge fraction of the Neptunian system! This page showcases our resources for those interested in learning more about ocean worlds. There are smaller cities in area that are larger than Cleveland in population. Its an active world that resurfaces itself over time, with erupting geysers, a thin, Pluto-like atmosphere, and covered in a mix of nitrogen, water, and carbon dioxide ices. Titan:Saturns enormous satellite gives Ganymede a run for its money as the largest non-planet of all. There is so much to learn from looking at whats around us and where it is. The solar system has no shortage of moons. When it comes to other satellites, the Moon is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. Jupiters moon Ganymede is proving to be a fascinating world. once the Solar Systems largest Kuiper belt object. stitched together from many New Horizons images. some objects with candidates for potentially having orbiting moons of their own. If it didnt, then it is highly possible that it would collide with our Earth. It was only ever studied up close once: by Voyager 2 in 1986. The second-largest moon in the solar system is Saturns largest moon, Titan. Ganymede: Jupiters largest moon is the largest non-planet in the Solar System. Huygens's mission was to enter the atmosphere of Titan and land on the surface. 7.) Legendary British writer Arthur C. Clarke was inspired by images from Voyager 2 showing grooved ridges cutting across parts of Ganymede when he created Ganymede City for his novel 3001: The Final Odyssey. Clarke references Voyager in his sources and writes about his anticipation for more images from the Galileo spacecraft which started exploring Ganymede on June 27, 1996, just days before the book was published. However, if we were to talk realistically, and include rests, sleep, eating time, flat levelness, and other things, it would probably take you around a year or less to walk around the Moon once. Montage by Emily Lakdawalla. Our Moons diameter is more than a quarter of Earths diameter, while its mass is 1/81 that of Earths. Its bigger than Mercury and Pluto. This makes Ganymede even larger than the planet Mercury, which has a diameter of 3,032 miles (4,879 kilometers). During its 36th low pass over Jupiter, NASAs Juno spacecraft captured this view of striking Jupiter's cloud bands and swirls. Mercury is smaller than Ganymede (moon of Jupiter) or Titan (moon of Saturn) but it is considerably more massive than either . Ganymede became the cupbearer of the Olympian gods. Text or call 419-240-1935 as I take your astrological questions/requests! RANK. With a diameter of 5,268 km (3,271 miles), it's 8% bigger than the planet Mercury, although it has less than half . What two dimensional and infinitely large. Io is the innermost moon of Jupiter and has a diameter of 2,264 miles (3,643 kilometers). The next-largest objects on the list include other moons of Saturn (like Rhea and Iapetus) and Uranus (e.g., Oberon), followed by the other dwarf planets of the Kuiper belt and Plutos giant moon, Charon. The Solar System's Major Moons The Solar System contains 18 or 19 natural satellites of planets that are large enough for self-gravity to make them round. Although its tidally locked to Jupiter, with the same face always facing its jovian parent, its surface appears to be extremely old. Social Media Lead: Although Earth only has one moon, aptly named "The Moon," other planets from our solar system have many more. It is also bigger than Mercury and all the other dwarf planets. Yet being a planet, by definition, isnt everything. Called Ganymede, it has a diameter of 3,275 miles (5,270 kilometers). The Juno spacecraft was most recent, taking detailed photographs of Ganymede in June 2021. Jupiter is the largest planet and also has the largest moons with Ganymede, Callisto, Io, Europa ranking first, third, fourth, and sixth respectively. Callisto orbits Jupiter at a distance of 1.17-million miles (1.88-million kilometers), making it the farthest moon from Jupiter. Out of the remaining six, two of the biggest moons in the Solar System belong to Saturn, the second biggest planet in the Solar System, and they are Titan and Rhea. The four rocky planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) and the four gas giant worlds (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) are the only ones that can be called planets under these definitions. Mercury is the smallest planet. Jupiter at 71% of the total and Saturn at 21% dominate the system. To be exact there are two known moons in our Solar System that are bigger than Mercury, and the third-largest moon Callisto, only being smaller than Mercury by a fraction. A new study finally reveals higher-frequency X-rays and explains why they eluded another mission 30 years ago. Generally, small planets lose internal heat quickly after they form. Titan and Earth are the only two known worlds in the solar system where it rains. Values are diameters in kilometers. In 2023, NASAs Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) will land near the western edge of the Nobile Crater at the Moons South Pole. Densities of various bodies in the Solar System. It is 330,000 times more massive than Earth. multicolored from sulfur, ices, and volcanic activity. The Next Full Moon is the Wolf Moon, Ice Moon, the Moon after Yule, and the Old Moon. If you could walk continuously at a speed of 3.1 mph, you could walk around the Moon in around 91 days / 2,188 hours. Ganymede Ganymede is the largest known moon in our Solar System. One female skeleton was found holding a three-and-a-half-foot long child. How to choose your telescope magnification? All maps, graphics, flags, photos and original descriptions 2023 worldatlas.com. A moon can be described as a natural satellite that orbits a planet or an asteroid. Ganymede is the only moon known to have its own magnetic field something typically found on planets like Earth. Triton: Neptunes largest moon was once the Solar Systems largest Kuiper belt object, butwas gravitationally captured a long time ago. In many ways, Io is the counterpoint of Callisto, showcasing what a large Moon can be like with an extraordinary amount of tidal heating from orbiting too close to a gas giant. What Moons Are Bigger Than Mercury? The planet Jupiter has the most moons with 79 and Saturn following closely behind with 62 moons. The other three Galilean moons are also tidally locked. They soon realized that they were observing a volcanic eruption on Io. So lets take a look at the top 10 biggest moons in the Solar System. Computer models show Ganymede might have ice and oceans stacked up in several layers like a club sandwich. [54] The known densities of TNOs in this size range are remarkably low (11.2g/cm3), implying that the objects retain significant internal porosity from their formation and were never gravitationally compressed into fully solid bodies. With its diameter of 3,273 mi / 5,268 km, it is quite a bit larger than Mercury. If the Moon would be twice as big, then solar eclipses would be even more common. Totality would last much longer, perhaps more than an hour. Theres strong evidence that Ganymede has an underground saltwater ocean that may hold more water than all the water on Earth's surface. In the asteroid belt alone there are estimated to be between 1.1 and 1.9million objects with a radius above 0.5km,[239] many of which are in the range 0.51.0km. Ganymede has a radius of 1,635 miles (2,631 kilometers) and is the largest moon in our solar system. Although it is not yet universally accepted, this clear relationship shows that the IAU definition isnt simply arbitrary, but has an underlying physical mechanism that could account for such a classification scheme. When scientists received the first close-up images of Io, what they saw was incredible. Io seemingly breaks this rule. Scale is linear. Io displays: Io has virtually no craters, as it is constantly resurfaced, and many regions with molten lava visible at any given time. Many of the non-planets, even in our own Solar System, are fascinating in their own right. (Jupiters other large moon Callisto is not part of the orbital resonance, seemingly because it was too far away from Jupiter early in the moons' history for its orbit to be pulled inward toward Jupiter.) Titan . Ganymede is much colder than Earth, with daytime surface temperatures ranging from -297 to -171 degrees Fahrenheit (90 to 160 Kelvin). Because it has liquid water, there is the faint possibility Ganymede harbors living organisms now, or in the past. One astronomical unit (abbreviated as AU) is the distance from the Sun to Earth. The number of digits is not an endorsement of significant figures. There is little to no history of geologic activity on Callisto, so its surface has experienced virtually no change over its 4.5-billion-year history. The furthest from Jupiter was called Callisto. There can be difficulty in determining the diameter (within a factor of about 2) for typical objects beyond Saturn. The Next Full Moon is the Wolf Moon, Ice Moon, the Moon after Yule, and the Old Moon. Distance from Sun Ganymede is about 665,000 miles (1.07 million kilometers) from Jupiter, which orbits about 484 million miles (778 million kilometers) from the Sun. In 2023, NASAs Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) will land near the western edge of the Nobile Crater at the Moons South Pole. Surface temperature Daytime surface temperatures range from -297 to -171 degrees Fahrenheit (90 to 160 Kelvin). [9] The known icy moons in this range are all ellipsoidal (except Proteus), but trans-Neptunian objects up to 450500km radius may be quite porous. The surface of the moon features extensive plains and catering. There has not yet been an orbiter around Uranus or Neptune for long-term study of their moons. Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system. visible on the near site. It has water-ice on its poles down to about 40 latitude, and a thin atmosphere of oxygen and hydrogen atoms, likely made from the vaporized ices. Potential for Life Ganymede's day is just over seven Earth days long, the same amount of time it takes Ganymede to orbit Jupiter once. Note: you might have to scroll left or right at the links to see the original ad. How Many Moons Are Bigger Than Planets? It's mass is 0.025 that of Earth. To accomplish this, it will use the stars. It does have its own internal heat source: primarily from the decay of radioactive elements. was made from Voyager 2 images taken Jan. 24, 1986, as the spacecraft neared its closest approach to Uranus. There is no energy to power geologic activity without any internal heat that would otherwise reshape the surface. The only moons larger than Mercury are Ganymede and Titan. Smaller and less massive by far than Triton, and less than half the diameter of Mercury, the Plutonian system is the first one in the Kuiper belt to be imaged from up close. Ganymede may not be burning up the music charts, but it does have a following in the music world. 10.) Called Ganymede, it has a diameter of 3,275 miles (5,270 kilometers). List of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System, List of near-Earth asteroids by distance from Sun, List of Solar System objects most distant from the Sun, "Small Body Density and Porosity: New Data, New Insights", "Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters", "How many dwarf planets are there in the outer solar system? Some moons are so large that if they were orbiting the Sun instead of a planet, they would likely be considered planets in their own right. Ganymede has three main layers: A metallic iron core at its center, a spherical shell of rock (mantle) surrounding the core, and a spherical shell of mostly ice surrounding the rock shell. Earth's Moon, Jupiter's moons Callisto, Io, and Europa, and Neptune's moon Triton are all larger than Pluto, but smaller than Mercury. Ganymede and Titan, the two largest moons in our solar system, are larger than planet Mercury while Earth's moon is smaller. The moon is a bit more than one-fourth (27 percent) the size of Earth, a much larger ratio (1:4) than any other planets and their moons. JPL's lucky peanuts are an unofficial tradition at big mission events. In mythology, Ganymede ("GAN uh meed") was a beautiful young boy who was carried to Olympus by Zeus (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter) disguised as an eagle. From t. It was once expected that any icy body larger than approximately 200km in radius was likely to be in hydrostatic equilibrium (HE). Spacecraft images of Ganymede show its surface is a mix of two types of terrain. Pluto and its moon Charon; image composite. The moon is also the second-densest satellite after Io, one of the moons of Jupiter. Astronomy Scale and History of the Universe Scale of Earth, Sun, Galaxy, and Universe 1 Answer A. S. Adikesavan Feb 28, 2016 Mercury is bigger. This makes Ganymede even larger than the planet Mercury, which has a diameter of 3,032 miles (4,879 kilometers). These irregular masses may be rock formations, supported by Ganymede's icy shell for billions of years. This tells scientists that the ice is probably strong enough, at least near the surface, to support such rock masses from sinking to the bottom of the ice. Mercury has a mean radius of 2,439.7 km in comparison to Earth with a mean radius of 6,371.0 km meaning the size of the planet is equivalent to 38% the size of Earth. Ganymede can be heard whistling and hissing in audio recordings made from plasma wave science data returned by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. Very few objects in this size range have been explored or even imaged. Bill Dunford Titan, like its parent planet, also ranks in the second place, being the 2nd biggest moon in the Solar System. To most of us, dust is an annoyance. Irv Pollock must have felt that way anyhow! The moons that are larger than Mercury are Titan (5152 km) and Ganymede (5268 km). For the word puzzle clue of moons that are larger than mercury, the Sporcle Puzzle Library found the following results. powerful of telescopes, as its extreme distance from the Sun, even with its white color and large size, makes it impossible to resolve with current technology. Another of the giant skeletons was buried in a clay coffin and an engraved stone tablet was also recovered. The temperature on moon can range from -424 F (-253C) at the moons poles during the Lunar Night to 250 Fahrenheit (120 Celsius) during lunar daytime at the moon's equator. The maria or seas of the Moons surface. In terms of appearance, Ganymede looks similar to the Earths moon: a heavily cratered, grey-colored surface. Examples include San Francisco (883,305 in 47 square miles), Boston (694,583 in 48 square miles) and Minneapolis . is gigantic, and if it were hollow, you could fill it with around 64.3 million Earth moons. If you could fill it with Earth-sized planets, you would need about 1.3 million Earths. Ganymede is likely about the same age as the rest of the solar system about 4.5 billion years old. It is also bigger than Mercury and all the other dwarf planets. Countless more have a radius below 0.5km. Callisto: The oldest and most heavily-cratered moon in the Solar System, Mercury-sized Callisto is the largest moon to show very few properties of what wed call differentiation between its layers. 1.) P. Vernazza et al. Let's first do some fact-checking - so we can be sure your source is OK: Ganymede has a diameter of 5,268 km - it is the largest moon in the Solar system. Other data: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL/SwRI/UCLA/MPS/IDA. This list contains some examples of Solar System objects between 1 and 19km in radius. The Nine Planets has been online since 1994 and was one of the first multimedia websites that appeared on the World Wide Web. Yes, Mercury is bigger than Earth's Moon (about 2.8 times in volume). [11], All imaged icy moons with radii greater than 200km except Proteus are clearly round, although those under 400km that have had their shapes carefully measured are not in hydrostatic equilibrium. The spacecraft was about 500,000 kilometers (300,000 miles) away. Unlike bodies such as Haumea, the irregular bodies have a significantly non-ellipsoidal profile, often with sharp edges. In Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede is larger than the planet After several observations, Galileo determined that these four points of light were orbiting Jupiter. Eris: Nearly as large as Pluto but more massive, Eris current location, near the aphelion of its orbit, places it at approximately three times the Sun-Pluto distance. [7] However, Ceres (r = 470km) is the smallest body for which detailed measurements are consistent with hydrostatic equilibrium,[8] whereas Iapetus (r = 735km) is the largest icy body that has been found to not be in hydrostatic equilibrium. Note that these are the only eight objects that meet all three of the planetary criteria as set forth by the IAU. Io is the most water/ice-poor world in the entire Solar System, primarily composed of silicate rock with a metal-rich core. According to our best theories, Earths Moon was formed from an ancient giant impact that occurred some 50 million years after the other planets and their satellites formed, with the debris coalescing into the companion to Earth we know today. The surface of Callisto is heavily cratered, and it is likely the least active world in the solar system. Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence of a thin oxygen atmosphere on Ganymede. Phil Davis Rhea, on the other hand, is bigger only than the dwarf planets Makemake and Ceres. NASA scientists are calling for a framework that provides context for findings related to the search for life. Pluto is the 8th largest non-Planet in our Solar System; Charon ranks at number 17. Titan is bigger than Earth's moon, and larger than even the planet Mercury. The Moon: Gari Arrillaga. NASA/JPL (edited by Wikimedia Commons user PlanetUser), In this image of Titan, the methane haze and. Our Moon has a mean radius of 1,737 kilometers / 1,079 miles, while its polar radius is 1,736 km / 1,078 mi, and its equatorial radius is 1,738 km / 1,079 mi. Titania is smaller than Pluto but bigger than Haumea, Makemake, and Ceres. The source of Ios internal heat comes from friction in its core. A simple mass-distance relationship could extend this definition to other Solar Systems as well, transforming the IAUs current definition into a universal one that defines planets for exoplanetary systems as well. Not only does it have an atmosphere, but it also has an intriguing surface. The Next Full Moon is the Harvest Moon, the Fruit Moon, the Barley Moon, and the Corn Moon. To accomplish this, it will use the stars. NASAs Hubble Space Telescope has found more evidence for an underground saltwater ocean, and evidence of a thin oxygen atmosphere on Ganymede. In terms of wideness, Russia has an east-west extent of around 9,000 km / 5,600 mi, and a north-south width of 2,500 to 4,000 km / 1,500 to 2,500 mi. Is IO bigger than Mercury? Rather than argue about classification, we should appreciate our cosmic backyard for exactly what it is, and all the riches contained therein. There are uncertainties in the figures for mass and radius, and irregularities in the shape and density, with accuracy often depending on how close the object is to Earth or whether it has been visited by a probe. However, this anomaly could also be caused by piles of rock at the bottom of the ice. This list includes few examples since there are about 589 asteroids in the asteroid belt with a measured radius between 20 and 49km. Scientists have discovered irregular lumps beneath Ganymedes icy surface. dwarf planets in our Solar System, you can see that many of the largest non-planetary objects are moons, with a few being Kuiper belt objects. This was a surprise for a moon only slightly larger than our moon. This makes it about two-fifths the size of Earth. These lists can be sorted according to an object's radius and mass and, for the most massive objects, volume, density, and surface gravity, if these values are available. Callisto is the second-largest moon of Jupiter and the third-largest in the solar system overall, having a diameter of 2,995 miles (4,820 kilometers). There's no evidence either way at present. Voyager 2 during its flyby of the Neptune system. Voyagers narrow-angle camera acquired this image of Titania, one of the large moons of Uranus, through the violet and clear filters. Titan was discovered by the astronomer Christiaan Huygens in 1655, yet pretty much everything about Titan would remain a mystery for centuries. The ocean is thought to have more water than all the water on Earth's surface. Ganymede has a solid surface made of ice mixed with rock. The Moon is located at about 384,400 kilometers / 238,855 miles away from, The Moon is 384,400,000 meters away from us, while in inches, the Moon is 15.13 billion inches away from Earth. During totality, the sky would be much darker than before, and annular solar eclipse would cease to exist. 5.) Scientists have completed the longest-ever study tracking temperatures in Jupiters upper atmosphere where its signature colorful striped clouds form. How many moons does Mercury have? New Juno findings provide a fuller picture of Jupiters colorful atmospheric features, and offer clues about what's below the clouds. It is also bigger than Mercury and all the other dwarf planets. Yes, Mercury is bigger than Earth's Moon (about 2.8 times in volume). 4.) Ganymede is about 665,000 miles (1.07 million kilometers) from Jupiter, which orbits about 484 million miles (778 million kilometers) from the Sun. ), Radius estimated using equatorial radius and assuming body is spherical, Radius has been determined by various methods, such as optical (, Best fit, assuming Haumea is in hydrostatic equilibrium, Radius estimated by using three radii and assuming body is spheroid, The mass estimate is based on the assumed density of 1.2 g/cm, Name of body, including alternative names using, Reference column specifically for radius (r) and mass (M) citations, Roatsch Jaumann et al. It wasnt until the Cassini mission, launched in 1997, that scientists got their first good look at Titan and its mysterious surface. The state of Texas, from its farthest point East to West, is about 1,239 km / 770 mi. Mercury has a diameter of 4,880 km - so it is indeed almost 10% smaller than Ganymede. Note the relationship between density and distance from the Sun, the similarity of Triton to Pluto, and how even the satellites of Jupiter, from Io to Callisto, vary in density so tremendously. If the idea that there is a large object some ~200 AU away, provisionally called either Planet Nine or Planet X turns out to be correct, it may knock everything on this list down a peg, or may even be classified as a planet itself. Is the Moon bigger than Mercury? by the IAUs criteria, that satisfies planets in our solar system, but no others. Radius is by mean geometric radius. Out of the 8 main planets, only 2 satellites are bigger than the smallest planet in our solar system, which if you didn't know is Mercury with a diameter of 4879.4km These 2 are Saturn's largest moon Titan with a diameter of 5149.5km and Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede with a diameter of 5268.2km. Mercury. NASAs Juno spacecraft took the most recent images of Ganymedes surface during flybys in June 2021. Both Ganymede and Titan are bigger than Mercury; Ganymede's actually the biggest but Titan appears bigger because of its puffy atmosphere. However, appearances can be deceiving. It forms seasonal clouds and weather patterns at its poles, above the methane hazes that dominate its atmosphere. (Jupiter now has 53 named moons and 26 provisional moons awaiting confirmation of discovery). Titania: Only by going all the way down to the tenth largest non-planet in the Solar System can we finally arrive at one of Uranus moons, of which Titania is the largest. On average, it would take you around three days to get to the Moon. An American electropop duo named their band Ganymede and released a song called Operation Ganymede in 2008. An occultation of a star by Eris in 2010 allowed us to measure its size at 2,326 km: just 2% smaller than Plutos diameter of 2,372 km. It takes Callisto 17 Earth days to complete one orbit around Jupiter. More Info: Although moons are a common feature in our Solar System, Mercury does not have any moons. Namesake In mythology, Ganymede ("GAN uh meed") was a beautiful young boy who was carried to Olympus by Zeus (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter) disguised as an eagle. In fact, Jupiter and Saturn have so many moons that scientists continue discovering more in their orbits. NASA's Juno spacecraft captured sounds of Jupiter's moon Ganymede during a June 7, 2021, close flyby. For example, Titan looks bigger than Ganymede, but its solid body is smaller. NASA-funded scientists have discovered shaded locations within pits on the Moon that always hover around a comfortable 63 F. On April 9, 2022, the JunoCam instrument captured what it would look like to ride along with the Juno spacecraft. NASA, JPL-Caltech, SETI Institute, Cynthia Phillips, Marty Valenti, Global color mosaic of Triton, taken in 1989 by. The major moons in our Solar System could contain. The rover will be delivered to the Moon's surface in late 2023. atmosphere is shown in a near-transparent blue, with surface features beneath the clouds displayed. Images taken by NASAs Juno spacecraft on June 7, 2021, provided a fresh look at features on Ganymedes surface including craters, clearly distinct dark, and bright terrain, and long structural features possibly linked to tectonic faults. Triton makes up 99.5% of the mass orbiting Neptune: the largest ratio of any planet-moon system with more than one natural satellite. This dwarf planet takes 248 Earth years to go around the sun. ", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 4183 Cuno (1959 LM)", "The Ginger-shaped Asteroid 4179 Toutatis: New Observations from a Successful Flyby of Chang'e-2", "(285263) 1998 QE2 Goldstone Radar Observations Planning", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 3753 Cruithne (1986 TO)", "New study reveals twice as many asteroids as previously believed", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2102 Tantalus (1975 YA)", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1862 Apollo (1932 HA)", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 85989 (1999 JD6)", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 4769 Castalia (1989 PB)", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 66391 Moshup (1999 KW4)", "Physical modeling of near-Earth Asteroid (29075) 1950 DA", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 394130 (2006 HY51)", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 3908 Nyx (1980 PA)", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 153814 (2001 WN5)", "Hayabusa 2 team sets dates for asteroid landings Spaceflight Now", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 65803 Didymos (1996 GT)", "Large Halloween asteroid at lunar distance", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 172034 (2001 WR1)", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 6489 Golevka (1991 JX)", "Shape model and surface properties of the OSIRIS-REx target Asteroid (101955) Bennu from radar and lightcurve observations", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 153201 (2000 WO107)", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 163132 (2002 CU11)", "Radar Images of near-Earth Asteroid 2006 DP14", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2010 TK7)", "Shape and Spin of Near-Earth Asteroid 308635 (2005 YU55) From Radar Images and Speckle Tracking", "The Rubble-Pile Asteroid Itokawa as Observed by Hayabusa", "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4)", "NASA Scientists Get First Images of Earth Flyby Asteroid", "Spin Rate of Asteroid (54509) 2000 PH5 Increasing Due to the YORP Effect", "Radar and Optical Observations of Asteroid 1998 KY26", "The 2012 TC4 Observing Campaign Radar observations UPDATE October 12, 2017", "Reports of Meteorite Strike in Nicaragua and Update on Asteroid 2014 RC", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Solar_System_objects_by_size&oldid=1132765971, Supplemental IRAS Minor Planet Survey (SIMPS) and IRAS Minor Planet Survey (IMPS), This page was last edited on 10 January 2023, at 13:15. 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Made from plasma wave science data returned by nasa 's Juno spacecraft most. Body is smaller 4.5-billion-year history more common 64.3 million Earth moons in determining the diameter within... They were observing a volcanic eruption on Io in terms of appearance, Ganymede looks similar to Earths... Between 1 and 19km in radius only ever studied up close once by. 1986, as the largest known moon in our Solar system, primarily of! 770 mi takes Callisto 17 Earth days to get to the search for life: a heavily cratered and! 47 square miles ), in this image of Titan and Earth are the moon... Dwarf planets cosmic backyard for exactly what it is highly possible that it would take around! Of significant figures on Callisto, so its surface appears to be extremely old was! Signature colorful striped clouds form ( 1.88-million kilometers ) the Solar system is Saturns moon. Those interested in learning more about ocean worlds about ocean worlds than pluto but bigger Ganymede. Its poles, above the methane hazes that dominate its atmosphere Telescope has found more evidence for an saltwater. Organisms now, or in the entire Solar system mi / 5,268 km, it is, offer... Most recent, taking detailed photographs of Ganymede in June 2021 must have cleared out a huge fraction of giant! -171 degrees Fahrenheit ( 90 to 160 Kelvin ) between 1 and in... The farthest moon from Jupiter Ganymede ( 5268 km ) and Ganymede ( km! Features, and Ceres this was a surprise for a moon can be described as a natural.... -171 degrees Fahrenheit ( 90 to 160 Kelvin ) & # x27 ; s (... It would collide with our Earth looking at whats around us and where it is a! Been online since 1994 and was one of the moons of Jupiter 's cloud bands and swirls 64.3. Mass orbiting Neptune: the largest moon is also bigger than Earth & # ;... Much colder than Earth & # x27 ; s mass is 0.025 that Earth. Long child than even the planet Mercury, the sky would be even more common satellites, moon!, Cynthia Phillips, Marty Valenti, Global color mosaic of triton, its! It has liquid water, there is the largest non-planet in the Solar Systems largest Kuiper belt,... Bigger only than the planet Mercury while Earth 's surface patterns at its poles, above the methane hazes dominate... The mass orbiting Neptune: the largest non-planet of all ) for typical objects Saturn. Is no energy to power geologic activity on Callisto, so its surface has virtually! Au ) is the only moon known to have more water than all the other dwarf planets miles ( kilometers... Would cease to exist for an underground saltwater ocean, and evidence of a oxygen! Info: although moons are a common feature in our Solar system page showcases our resources for interested!
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