Members
Simulations suggest there may have been several generations of Galilean satellites in Jupiter's early history. Each generation of moons to have formed would have spiraled into Jupiter and been destroyed, due to drag from Jupiter's proto-lunar disk, with new moons forming from the remaining debris. By the time the present generation formed, the debris had thinned out to the point that it no longer greatly interfered with the moons' orbits. Io is anhydrous and likely has an interior of rock and metal. Europa is thought to contain 8% ice and water by mass with the remainder rock. These moons are, in increasing order of distance from Jupiter:
| Name |
Image | Model of Interior I E G C |
Diameter (km) |
Mass (kg) |
Density (g/cm³) |
Inclination (°) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Io Jupiter I |
3660.0 ×3637.4 ×3630.6 |
0893 !8.93×1022 | 3.528 | 421,800 | 1.769 (1) |
0.050 | 0.0041 | ||
| Europa Jupiter II |
3121.6 | 0480 !4.8×1022 | 3.014 | 671,100 | 3.551 (2) |
0.471 | 0.0094 | ||
| Ganymede Jupiter III |
5262.4 | 1480 !1.48×1023 | 1.942 | 1,070,400 | 7.155 (4) |
0.204 | 0.0011 | ||
| Callisto Jupiter IV |
4820.6 | 1080 !1.08×1023 | 1.834 | 1,882,700 | 16.69 (9.4) |
0.205 | 0.0074 |
Read more about this topic: Galilean Moons
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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