What is the diameter of Ganymede?

Ganymede, a satellite of Jupiter, is the largest and most massive of the Solar System's moons. The ninth-largest object of the Solar System, it is the largest without a substantial atmosphere.

How big is Ganymede vs Earth?

With a mean radius of 2634.1 ± 0.3 kilometers (the equivalent of 0.413 Earths), Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system and is even larger than the planet Mercury. However, with a mass of 1.4819 x 10²³ kg (the equivalent of 0.025 Earths), it is only half as massive.

Is Mars or Ganymede bigger?

Jupiter's moon Ganymede is the largest satellite in the solar system. Larger than Mercury and Pluto, and only slightly smaller than Mars, it would easily be classified as a planet if were orbiting the sun rather than Jupiter.

Can we land on Ganymede?

So far spacecraft have landed on Venus, the Moon, Mars and Saturn's moon Titan; landing on Ganymede would mark the sixth body in the Solar System (including Earth) that humanity has left its mark upon. The Ganymede Lander is still in a concept stage at the moment.

Which is the smallest satellite in the solar system?

Answer. The smallest moon is Deimos, at Mars, only seven miles in diameter, although its size now is rivaled by the small shepherd moons discovered by Cassini at Saturn and by others yet to be counted and named in the rings around Jupiter, Saturn and other giant gas planets in the outer Solar System.

How big is Ganymede vs Mercury?

It has a diameter of 5,268 km (3,273 mi), making it 26 percent larger than the planet Mercury by volume, although it is only 45 percent as massive.

Is Ganymede icy or rocky?

Structure. 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. The surface is the very top of the ice shell. Scientists have discovered irregular lumps beneath Ganymede's icy surface.

Is Callisto smaller than Mercury?

Callisto is Jupiter's second largest moon and the third largest moon in our solar system. It's about the same size as Mercury.

Which is the largest satellite in the solar system?

Ganymede. Ganymede is the largest satellite in our solar system. It is larger than Mercury and Pluto, and three-quarters the size of Mars.

Is Ganymede bigger than any planets?

Jupiter's icy moon Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system, even bigger than the planet Mercury, and the dwarf planet Pluto.

What is special about Ganymede?

Facts about Ganymede

Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, and is larger than the planet Mercury. If it were not orbiting as Jupiter's largest moon, it could be considered a dwarf planet. Ganymede is the only moon in the solar system known to have a substantial magnetosphere.

What is Earth's moon called?

Earth has one moon. We call it "the Moon" because for a long time it was the only one we knew about. Many languages have beautiful names for our Moon. It is "Luna" in Italian, Latin, and Spanish, "Lune" in French, "Mond" in German, and "Selene" in Greek.

What are 5 facts about Ganymede?

Below are some more interesting facts about Ganymede:

• – Ganymede is named after a Trojan prince. ...
• – Ganymede should be a planet, but isn't. ...
• – Ganymede has an orbital period of 7.1 days. ...
• – Ganymede has its own magnetic field. ...
• – Ganymede may have a buried ocean. ...
• – Ganymede has an atmosphere. ...
• – Ganymede is made of rock and ice.

What is the smallest satellite of Jupiter?

Astronomers have pinned down details of Jupiter's smallest known moon, a tiny space rock barely a mile across. The moon, known as S/2010 J 2, was discovered in September 2010 along with a fellow shrimpy satellite called S/2010 J 1.

Which planet has maximum number of satellites?

Saturn has the largest number of natural satellites or moons. It has 82 natural satellites with known orbits. Most of the satellites are very small.