"facilitate remote exploration of Europa, or be an ideal location for a Jovian system waystation servicing spacecraft heading farther into the outer Solar System, using a gravity assist from a close flyby of Jupiter after departing Callisto. In December 2003, NASA reported that a manned mission to Callisto might be possible in the 2040s. Callisto (moon) </math>.</ref> Callisto (Jupiter IV) is the second-largest moon of Jupiter, after Ganymede. It is the third-largest moon in the Solar System after Ganymede and Saturn's largest moon Titan, and the largest object in the Solar System not to be properly differentiated. Callisto was discovered"
"Himalia (moon) Himalia is the largest irregular satellite of Jupiter. It is the sixth largest Jovian satellite overall in size, and only the four Galilean moons of Jupiter have greater mass. It was discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory on 3 December 1904 and is named after the nymph Himalia, who bore three sons of Zeus (the Greek equivalent of Jupiter). It is one of the largest planetary moons in the Solar System not imaged in detail, and the largest not including the moons of Neptune and several trans-Neptunian objects, particularly Dysnomia, the moon of . Himalia"
"Amalthea (moon) Amalthea ( ; ) is the third moon of Jupiter in order of distance from the planet. It was discovered on 9 September 1892, by Edward Emerson Barnard and named after Amalthea, a nymph in Greek mythology. It is also known as . Amalthea is in a close orbit around Jupiter and is within the outer edge of the Amalthea Gossamer Ring, which is formed from dust ejected from its surface. From its surface, Jupiter would appear 46.5 degrees in diameter. Amalthea is the largest of the inner satellites of Jupiter. Irregularly shaped and reddish in color, it"
"Galilean moons The Galilean moons are the four largest moons of Jupiter—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They were first seen by Galileo Galilei in January 1610, and recognized by him as satellites of Jupiter in March 1610. They were the first objects found to orbit another planet. Their names derive from the lovers of Zeus. They are among the largest objects in the Solar System with the exception of the Sun and the eight planets, with a radius larger than any of the dwarf planets. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System, and is even bigger than the"
"Titania (moon) Titania is the largest of the moons of Uranus and the eighth largest moon in the Solar System at a diameter of . Discovered by William Herschel in 1787, Titania is named after the queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's ""A Midsummer Night's Dream"". Its orbit lies inside Uranus's magnetosphere. Titania consists of approximately equal amounts of ice and rock, and is probably differentiated into a rocky core and an icy mantle. A layer of liquid water may be present at the core–mantle boundary. The surface of Titania, which is relatively dark and slightly red in color, appears"
"a different moon may have been involved. Himalia (moon) Himalia is the largest irregular satellite of Jupiter. It is the sixth largest Jovian satellite overall in size, and only the four Galilean moons of Jupiter have greater mass. It was discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory on 3 December 1904 and is named after the nymph Himalia, who bore three sons of Zeus (the Greek equivalent of Jupiter). It is one of the largest planetary moons in the Solar System not imaged in detail, and the largest not including the moons of Neptune and several trans-Neptunian objects,"
"Moons of Jupiter There are 79 known moons of Jupiter. This gives Jupiter the largest number of moons with reasonably stable orbits of any planet in the Solar System. The most massive of the moons are the four Galilean moons, which were independently discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and Simon Marius and were the first objects found to orbit a body that was neither Earth nor the Sun. From the end of the 19th century, dozens of much smaller Jovian moons have been discovered and have received the names of lovers or daughters of the Roman god Jupiter or"
"Titan (moon) Titan is the largest moon of Saturn. It is the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object in space, other than Earth, where clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid have been found. Titan is the sixth gravitationally rounded moon from Saturn. Frequently described as a planet-like moon, Titan is 50% larger than Earth's moon and 80% more massive. It is the second-largest moon in the Solar System after Jupiter's moon Ganymede, and is larger than the smallest planet, Mercury, but only 40% as massive. Discovered in 1655 by the Dutch astronomer"
"close to the limit of human visual acuity. Ganymede and Callisto, at their maximum separation, are the likeliest targets for potential naked-eye observation. GIF animation of the resonance of Io, Europa, and Ganymede <br> Galilean moons The Galilean moons are the four largest moons of Jupiter—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They were first seen by Galileo Galilei in January 1610, and recognized by him as satellites of Jupiter in March 1610. They were the first objects found to orbit another planet. Their names derive from the lovers of Zeus. They are among the largest objects in the Solar System with"
"the third moon from Jupiter and the largest of the inner satellites of Jupiter. Pasiphae (Jupiter VIII) is used as a setting in John Varley's novel ""The Ophiuchi Hotline"", though it is referred to by its pre-1975 name, ""Poseidon"". Sinope, or Jupiter IX, is a small irregular satellite of Jupiter. From the time of its discovery in 1914 until the discovery of Megaclite in 2000, it was the outermost of Jupiter's known moons. It is still the most distant Jovian moon to have a diameter of more than 10 km. Jupiter's moons in fiction Jupiter's extensive system of natural satellites"
"Neith (crater) Neith crater is a crater on Jupiter's moon Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system. Impact features like Neith have been called ""penepalimpsests"" by some investigators or ""dome craters"" by others and are considered to be transitional between craters and palimpsests. Palimpsests are bright, nearly circular patches that are believed to be remnant impact features. They occur also on Callisto, Ganymede's neighbor farther distant from Jupiter. The most striking feature in Neith is a large, circular dome about 45 km in diameter. The dome is surrounded by a wreath of rugged terrain. The wreath does not represent"
"around Ganymede. In 2016, the ""Juno"" spacecraft imaged the Galilean moons from above their orbital plane as it approached Jupiter orbit insertion, creating a time-lapse movie of their motion. Moons of Jupiter There are 79 known moons of Jupiter. This gives Jupiter the largest number of moons with reasonably stable orbits of any planet in the Solar System. The most massive of the moons are the four Galilean moons, which were independently discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and Simon Marius and were the first objects found to orbit a body that was neither Earth nor the Sun. From the"
"this, it is one of Marius' naming schemes for the moons of Jupiter that is regularly used today. Based on a suggestion from Johannes Kepler in October 1613, he proposed that each moon was given its own name based on the lovers of the Greek mythological Zeus or his Roman equivalent, Jupiter. He named the innermost large moon of Jupiter after the Greek mythological figure Io. For the next two and a half centuries, because of the satellite's small size and distance, Io remained a featureless, 5th-magnitude point of light in astronomers' telescopes. So, the determination of its orbital period,"
"Metis (moon) Metis (; ), also known as , is the innermost known moon of Jupiter. It was discovered in 1979 in images taken by ""Voyager 1"", and was named in 1983 after the first wife of Zeus, Metis. Additional observations made between early 1996 and September 2003 by the ""Galileo"" spacecraft allowed its surface to be imaged. Metis is tidally locked to Jupiter, and its shape is strongly asymmetrical, with one of the diameters being almost twice as large as the smallest one. It is also one of the two moons known to orbit Jupiter in less than the"
"Proteus (moon) Proteus ( ; Greek: ""Πρωτεύς""), also known as Neptune VIII, is the second-largest Neptunian moon, and Neptune's largest inner satellite. Discovered by ""Voyager 2"" spacecraft in 1989, it is named after Proteus, the shape-changing sea god of Greek mythology. Proteus orbits Neptune in a nearly equatorial orbit at the distance of about 4.75 equatorial radii of the planet. Despite being a predominantly icy body more than 400 km in diameter, Proteus's shape deviates significantly from an ellipsoid. It is shaped more like an irregular polyhedron with several slightly concave facets and relief as high as 20 km. Its"
"Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a giant planet with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, but two-and-a-half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants; the other two giant planets, Uranus and Neptune, are ice giants. Jupiter has been known to astronomers since antiquity. It is named after the Roman god Jupiter. When viewed from Earth, Jupiter can reach an apparent magnitude of −2.94, bright enough for its reflected light to cast shadows, and making it"
"that would have studied the Jovian moon system as well as the planet Jupiter. The orbiter would have done several flybys of other Jovian moons before being placed in orbit around Europa. The lander would have researched the ocean underneath the ice sheet of Europa. However, to avoid the damaging effects of Jupiter's radiation belts, the destination of the lander was switched in 2011 from Europa to Ganymede. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System and has an internal ocean that may contain more water than all of Earth's oceans together. The orbiter would perform 13 flybys of"
"in turbulence and storms along their interacting boundaries. A prominent result is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that is known to have existed since at least the 17th century when it was first seen by telescope. Surrounding Jupiter is a faint planetary ring system and a powerful magnetosphere. Jupiter has 79 known moons, including the four large Galilean moons discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Ganymede, the largest of these, has a diameter greater than that of the planet Mercury. Jupiter has been explored on several occasions by robotic spacecraft, most notably during the early ""Pioneer"" and ""Voyager"""
"Saturn Rhea is the second-largest moon of Saturn. Titan is the largest moon of Saturn. Its substantial atmosphere makes it the most Earth-like moon in the Solar System and hence a popular science fiction setting. Hyperion is the largest irregularly-shaped moon of Saturn, orbiting between Titan and Iapetus. Iapetus is a large moon orbiting further from Saturn than any of its other large satellites. Half of its surface is very bright while the other half is extremely dark. Investigations since 2004 have also noted its irregular shape, immense impact basins, and a high mountainous ridge on the equator. Phoebe is"
"Io (moon) Io (Jupiter I) is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter. It is the fourth-largest moon, has the highest density of all the moons, and has the least amount of water of any known astronomical object in the Solar System. It was discovered in 1610 and was named after the mythological character Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of Zeus' lovers. With over 400 active volcanoes, Io is the most geologically active object in the Solar System. This extreme geologic activity is the result of tidal heating from friction generated within Io's"
"Elara (moon) Elara ( ; ) is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at Lick Observatory in 1905. It is the eighth-largest moon of Jupiter and is named after Elara, one of Zeus's lovers and the mother of the giant Tityos. Elara did not receive its present name until 1975; before then, it was simply known as . It was sometimes called ""Hera"" between 1955 and 1975. It has a mean radius of just , thus it is 2% of the size of Europa. However, it is half the size of Himalia, so"
"Jingpo Lacus Jingpo Lacus is a lake in the north polar region of Titan, the planet Saturn's largest moon. It and similarly sized Ontario Lacus are the largest known bodies of liquid on Titan after the three maria (Kraken Mare, Ligeia Mare and Punga Mare). It is composed of liquid hydrocarbons (mainly methane and ethane). It is west of Kraken Mare at 73° N, 336° W, roughly 240 km (150 mi) long, similar to the length of Lake Onega on Earth. Its namesake is Jingpo Lake, a scenic lake in China. On 8 July 2009, ""Cassini""'s Visual and Infrared Mapping"
"Iapetus (moon) Iapetus (; ), or occasionally Japetus , is the third-largest natural satellite of Saturn, eleventh-largest in the Solar System, and the largest body in the Solar System known not to be in hydrostatic equilibrium. Iapetus is best known for its dramatic ""two-tone"" coloration. Discoveries by the ""Cassini"" mission in 2007 revealed several other unusual features, such as a massive equatorial ridge running three-quarters of the way around the moon. Iapetus was discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini, an Italian astronomer, in October 1671. He had discovered it on the western side of Saturn and tried viewing it on the"
"green glows in the same image) have also been observed. Io (moon) Io (Jupiter I) is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter. It is the fourth-largest moon, has the highest density of all the moons, and has the least amount of water of any known astronomical object in the Solar System. It was discovered in 1610 and was named after the mythological character Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of Zeus' lovers. With over 400 active volcanoes, Io is the most geologically active object in the Solar System. This extreme geologic activity is"
"Oberon (moon) Oberon, also designated , is the outermost major moon of the planet Uranus. It is the second-largest and second most massive of the Uranian moons, and the ninth most massive moon in the Solar System. Discovered by William Herschel in 1787, Oberon is named after the mythical king of the fairies who appears as a character in Shakespeare's ""A Midsummer Night's Dream"". Its orbit lies partially outside Uranus's magnetosphere. It is likely that Oberon formed from the accretion disk that surrounded Uranus just after the planet's formation. The moon consists of approximately equal amounts of ice and rock,"
"though the presence of ammonia on Titan would cause chemical reactions to proceed more slowly. Titan (moon) Titan is the largest moon of Saturn. It is the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object in space, other than Earth, where clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid have been found. Titan is the sixth gravitationally rounded moon from Saturn. Frequently described as a planet-like moon, Titan is 50% larger than Earth's moon and 80% more massive. It is the second-largest moon in the Solar System after Jupiter's moon Ganymede, and is larger than the"
"Puck (moon) Puck ( ) is an inner moon of Uranus. It was discovered in December 1985 by the ""Voyager 2"" spacecraft. The name ""Puck"" follows the convention of naming Uranus's moons after characters from Shakespeare. The orbit of Puck lies between the rings of Uranus and the first of Uranus's large moons, Miranda. Puck is approximately spherical in shape and has diameter of about 162 km. It has a dark, heavily cratered surface, which shows spectral signs of water ice. Puck—the largest inner moon of Uranus—was discovered from the images taken by ""Voyager 2"" on 30 December 1985. It"
"the expansion continued, but some of the angular moment was transferred to Europa as the resonance caused its orbit to expand as well; the process continued until Europa encountered the 2:1 resonance with Ganymede. Eventually the drift rates of conjunctions between all three moons were synchronized and locked in the Laplace resonance. Ganymede is the largest and most massive moon in the Solar System. Its diameter of 5,268 km is 0.41 times that of Earth, 0.77 times that of Mars, 1.02 times that of Saturn's Titan (the second-largest moon), 1.08 times Mercury's, 1.09 times Callisto's, 1.45 times Io's and 1.51"
"Orbiter. However, ESA had formally ended the partnership by April 2011, citing budget issues at NASA and the consequences on the mission timetable. Instead, ESA planned to go ahead with a European-only mission to compete in its L1 Cosmic Vision selection. Jupiter has 79 known natural satellites. Of these, 63 are less than 10 kilometres in diameter and have only been discovered since 1975. The four largest moons, visible from Earth with binoculars on a clear night, known as the ""Galilean moons"", are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. The moons discovered by Galileo—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—are among the largest"
"candidate sites had little or no possibility of being the results of the proposed impacts. More recent discoveries include the following: Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a giant planet with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, but two-and-a-half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants; the other two giant planets, Uranus and Neptune, are ice giants. Jupiter has been known to astronomers since antiquity. It is named after the Roman god Jupiter. When viewed from"
"Triton, called ""Triton Hopper"", would mine nitrogen ice from the surface of Triton and process it to be used as small rocket propellant and fly or 'hop' across the surface. On 5 October 2017 Triton occulted the star UCAC4 410-143659. Triton (moon) Triton is the largest natural satellite of the planet Neptune, and the first Neptunian moon to be discovered. The discovery was made on October 10, 1846, by English astronomer William Lassell. It is the only large moon in the Solar System with a retrograde orbit, an orbit in the direction opposite to its planet's rotation. At in diameter,"
"March 17, 2016 collision with Jupiter An astronomical body collided with Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, on March 17, 2016. The object in question has not been confirmed by NASA to be an asteroid or comet, but may be so. A video was taken of Jupiter in Mödling on March 17 by an amateur astronomer, Gerrit Kernbauer, with a 20 centimeter telescope. During his filming, a light appeared on the right side of Jupiter as viewed from his lens. Another amateur astronomer, John McKeon, posted a video shot using an 11-inch telescope and an infrared filter of"
"Europa (moon) </math></ref> Europa ( ) (Jupiter II) is the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, and the sixth-closest to the planet. It is also the sixth-largest moon in the Solar System. Europa was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and was named after Europa, the mythological mother of King Minos of Crete and lover of Zeus (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter). Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and has a water-ice crust and probably an iron–nickel core. It has a very thin atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its"