We explain what Jupiter's moons are, how they were discovered and the list with their names. Also, the distance between Jupiter and its moons.
What are the moons of Jupiter?
In astronomy, the moons of Jupiter are the set of natural satellites that orbit this giant planet of the outer solar system. This planet, as its name reflects (Jupiter is the Roman name of the Greek god Zeus, father and ruler of divine Olympus) is often considered the “king” of the planets given its enormous size, equivalent to 318 times that of the Earth.
Until now, The existence of about 79 moons of Jupiter is known which makes it the planet with the largest entourage in the Solar System. These moons have extremely different orbital characteristics, ranging from circular orbital paths to eccentric and inclined ones, in some cases rotating against the direction of Jupiter's rotation. Regarding their physical appearance, there are few larger ones, greater than 3100 kilometers; while the rest ranges between 5 and 250 kilometers.
Until now, it is thought that Jupiter's moons were formed from the same accumulation of gases and matter from which the planet arose, although the smaller ones may be the result of the destruction of other previous satellites larger, lost during Jupiter's early history. Some are even assumed to be a direct product of the transit of asteroids, seduced by the enormous gravity of the king planet.
See also: Earth's translation
Discovery of Jupiter's moons
The four largest moons are called the “Galilean satellites.” as they were discovered in 1610 by the famous Galileo Galilei, and were the first astronomical objects discovered orbiting another planet, although there are records of informal sightings attributed to the Chinese astronomer Gan De (c. 364 BC).
In 1892 an additional moon to the Galilean ones was discovered and with the help of better and more powerful telescopes, moons continued to be added to the list in 1904, 1905, 1908, 1914, 1938, 1951 and 1974. The arrival of the Voyager space probe at Jupiter in 1979 revealed many more, until 32 more moons were discovered in 1999 and 2003 using ground-based detectors, and finally in 2017 an additional 12 were spotted with a telescope updated with a new 570-megapixel camera. The total number of Jupiter satellites today amounts to 79.
Names of Jupiter's moons
The list of the numerous moons of Jupiter and their respective names is as follows:
- Metis 43 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1979.
- Adrastea Of irregular diameter (26x20x16), discovered in 1979.
- Amalthea Of irregular diameter (262x146x134), discovered in 1892.
- Tebe Of irregular diameter (110×90), discovered in 1979.
- Io 3643 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1610.
- Europe 3122 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1610.
- Ganymede 5262 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1610.
- Callisto 4821 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1610.
- Temisto 8 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1975.
- Leda 20 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1974.
- Himalia 170 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1904.
- Lysitea 36 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1938.
- Elara 86 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1905.
- Day 4 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2000.
- Carpus 3 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- S/2003 J 12 1 kilometer in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Euporia 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2001.
- S/2003 J 3 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- S/2003 J 18 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Orthosia 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2001.
- Euante 3 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2001.
- Harpálice 4 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2000.
- Praxidice 7 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2000.
- Tione 4 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2001.
- S/2003 J 16 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Jocasta 5 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2000.
- Mnemea 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Hermipe 4 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2001.
- Telxinoe 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Helike 4 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Ananqué 28 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1951.
- S/2003 J 15 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Eurydome 3 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2001.
- Maple 3 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2002.
- Herse 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Walk around 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2001.
- S/2003 J 10 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Caldona 4 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2000.
- Isonoé 4 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2000.
- Erinome 3 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2000.
- Calé 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2001.
- Aitne 3 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2001.
- Stay calm 5 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2000.
- S/2003 J 9 1 kilometer in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Carmen 46 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1938.
- I sponded 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2001.
- Megaclite 5 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2000.
- S/2003 J 5 4 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- S/2003 J 19 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- S/2003 J 23 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Calyx 5 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2000.
- Pasiphae 60 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1908.
- Eukelade 4 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- S/2003 J 4 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Sinope 38 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1914.
- Hegemon 3 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Cilene 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Aedea 4 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Kore 3 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Kallichore 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- Autonoe 4 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2001.
- Calirroe 9 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 1999.
- S/2003 J 2 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2003.
- S/2010 J 1 1 kilometer in diameter, discovered in 2010.
- S/2010 J 2 1 kilometer in diameter, discovered in 2010.
- S/2011 J 1 1 kilometer in diameter, discovered in 2011.
- S/2011 J 2 1 kilometer in diameter, discovered in 2011.
- S/2016 J 1 3 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2016.
- S/ 2017 J 1 2 kilometers in diameter, discovered in 2017.
How far are the moons from Jupiter?
Jupiter's many moons orbit around it at different levels. Some of the tiny ones form, together with dust and gas, the rings of Jupiter, which orbit the planet 122,800 km from the center, with a thickness of a dozen kilometers. Much closer to the planet, Galilean satellites are found as a first satellite frontier followed by a prograde group orbiting in a medium space. All this, of course, about 594 million kilometers from our planet.
Moons of Jupiter that have water
The largest moons of Jupiter have long been studied as possible hosts for humanity, which involves confirming the existence of water (generally frozen). The most notable case of this is that of Europe, the sixth moon of Jupiter, geologically active and possessing a subsurface liquid ocean which makes it the object of numerous explorations and observations. This ocean remains liquid beneath the satellite's icy surface (which is about 174 to 224 degrees below zero) thanks to geothermal activity, and is even a plausible candidate for extraterrestrial life.
References
- “Satellites of Jupiter” on Wikipedia.
- “Moons of Jupiter” on Astronoo.
- “How many moons does Jupiter have? Everything you should know” in Misistemasolar.com.
- “Jupiter Moons” at NASA.
- “Jupiter Moons: Crash Course Astronomy #17” (video) on Crash Course.
- “They discover 12 new moons of Jupiter, including a 'strange ball' that can collide head-on with the others” on BBC Mundo.
