Giant Moons

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Giant Moons
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Galilean Satellites

• Galileo saw four moons around Jupiter in 1610.
• Support for Keplers laws.
• These large moons were once thought to be like
  Earths.
• All very different

Io
Europa
Ganymede
Callisto
Galileo mission
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Io

• Io is the solar systems most active object.
• The surface is covered in volcanos and geysers
  that spew dust into space.
• The heat is generated from Jupiters tidal force.

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Europa

• Europa has more water than Earth.
• There is an ice layer covering a salty ocean.
• Europa has a thin oxygen atmosphere.

Icy cracks on Europa
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Ganymede

• Ganymede is larger than Mercury.
• It has a magnetic field due to a molten iron
  core.
• Ganymede shows craters and tectonics on the
  surface.
• Water ice fills craters on the surface.

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Callisto

• Callisto is almost as large as Mercury.
• It also has ice filled craters.
• Callisto has a weak magnetic field, but no core.
• There is evidence that there is a deep subsurface
  ocean.

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Titan

• Titan is the largest moon of Saturn.
• Larger than Mercury
• The planet is covered in clouds and has an
  atmosphere thicker than Earth.
• Methane and ethane rain

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Uranian Moons

• Miranda (470 km across)
• Huge fault canyons (20 km)
• Shattered as many as 5 times

• Titania (1580 km across)
• Many surface faults
• 1600 km canyon

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Triton

• Triton is the largest moon of Neptune (2700 km).
• It is the coldest known object in the solar
  system (-235 ºC).
• It has a thin atmosphere and clouds of frozen
  nitrogen.