NextPrevious

The Solar System

Moons

What are some of the characteristics of Jupiter’s moons?

Most of Jupiter’s dozens of moons (to date, more than sixty are known) are just a few miles across, and are probably captured asteroids. Four of Jupiter’s moons stand out, however. They are called the Galilean moons because Galileo first discovered them in 1609. The aptly named Galileo spacecraft gave us our closest look yet at these four remarkable planetary bodies, which are richly complex worlds unto themselves.



Close

This is a web preview of the "The Handy Astronomy Answer Book" app. Many features only work on your mobile device. If you like what you see, we hope you will consider buying. Get the App