How many moons does Jupiter have and what are their names?

Answer 1

http://home.case.edu/~sjr16/jupiter_moons.html These are the four Galilean satellites. They are named so because they were the only four moons that Galileo was able to see. They are also the largest of Jupiter's moons. From top-left in a clock-wise direction, they are Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, and Io.

If Ganymede were not bound to Jupiter, it would be considered a planet in its own right. It is actually bigger than Mercury, being 390 km (234 miles) larger in diameter. It has heavily cratered dark regions, with lighter expanses in-between. Geologists think that it used to have plates, like the Earth, but they froze together soon after Ganymede's birth.

Callisto, the outermost of the Galilean moons, is almost an exact twin of Mercury in size and appearance. Every square mile is covered with craters or other signs of bombardment. Other than that, there are no distinct characteristics

Europa, closer to Jupiter than Ganymede, is the smoothest natural body in the solar system. It resembles a billiard ball until seen very close-up. At that distance you can start to see dark, deep, and narrow cracks. In scale, though, the relief is no bigger than a line on a billiard ball made with a felt-tipped marker. Geologists think that Europa has liquid water underneath the icy surface - and possibly life.

Io, closer yet, is commonly compared to a pizza. Its volcanoes make it the most active world in the solar system. They spew out the sulfuric acid that gives Io its many colors. They also make Io one of the only three moons with an atmosphere in the solar system. Saturn's Titan and Neptune's Triton are the other two moons. Io is similar in size and composition to our moon. Io is caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between Jupiter and the other moons. Tension has melted the interior and raised the surface temperatures so high that scientists calculated that it generates the most heat for its size of any body in the solar system, except for the sun.

Other Moons

There are 57 other moons that have been discovered around Jupiter. There are four closer than Io. Their names, in order from Jupiter are Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, and Thebe. Still in order after the Galilean Satellites are recently discovered Themisto, Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, and Elara. Then there are four more recently discovered moons, Ananke, and three more moons, of which scientists know little about. After these seven come Ananke, Carme, Pasiphaë, and Sinope, with two more moons in-between Pasiphaë and Sinope. After Sinope, 12 more moons are found.

The outer 33 moons all orbit Jupiter in a direction opposite (except for J/2003 J20) to that which Jupiter spins, which leads scientists to believe they are captured asteroids.

The largest non-Galilean moon is Amalthea, being 262 km (163 miles) at its widest diameter.

The innermost two moons, Metis and Adrastea, patrol the outer edge of the rings, their small gravity being enough to keep the particles from flying out.

Nearly all of the moons that have been discovered in the last few years orbit retrograde to the direction of Jupiter's rotation , indicating that they are most likely not native to the system. They are also very small. Those that have not yet been given names will eventually be given names by the International Astronomical Union, the only official naming group.

Answer 2

The planet Jupiter's four largest moons are called the Galilean satellites, after Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, who observed them in 1610. The German astronomer Simon Marius claimed to have seen the moons around the same time, but he did not publish his observations and so Galileo is given the credit for their discovery. These large moons, named Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, are each distinctive worlds. Altogether 63 moons have been identified for Jupiter.

1. Metis
2. Adrastea
3. Amalthea
4. Thebe
5. Io
6. Europa
7. Ganymede
8. Callisto
9. Themisto
10. Leda
11. Himalia
12. Lysithea
13. Elara
14. S/2000 J11
15. Iocaste
16. Praxidike
17. Harpalyke
18. Ananke
19. Isonoe
20. Erinome
21. Taygete
22. Chaldene
23. Carme
24. Pasiphae
25. S/2002 J1
26. Kalyke
27. Magaclite
28. Sinope
29. Callirrhoe
30. Euporie
31. Kale
32. Orthosie
33. Thyone
34. Euanthe
35. Hermippe
36. Pasithee
37. Eurydome
38. Aitne
39. Sponde
40. Autonoe
41. S/2003 J1
42. S/2003 J2
43. S/2003 J3
44. S/2003 J4
45. S/2003 J5
46. S/2003 J6
47. S/2003 J7
48. S/2003 J8
49. S/2003 J9
50. S/2003 J10
51. S/2003 J11
52. S/2003 J12
53. S/2003 J13
54. S/2003 J14
55. S/2003 J15
56. S/2003 J16
57. S/2003 J17
58. S/2003 J18
59. S/2003 J19
60. S/2003 J20
61. S/2003 J21
62. S/2003 J22
63. S/2003 J23

Answer 3

63

1. Metis 2. Adrastea 3. Amalthea 4. Thebe 5. Io 6. Europa
7. Ganymede 8. Callisto 9. Themisto 10. Leda 11. Himalia
12. Lysithea 13. Elara 14. S/2000 J11 15. Iocaste 16. Praxidike
17. Harpalyke 18. Ananke 19. Isonoe 20. Erinome 21. Taygete 22. Chaldene 23. Carme 24. Pasiphae 25. S/2002 J1
26. Kalyke 27. Magaclite 28. Sinope 29. Callirrhoe 30. Euporie 31. Kale 32. Orthosie 33. Thyone 34. Euanthe 35. Hermippe 36. Pasithee 37. Eurydome 38. Aitne 39. Sponde 40. Autonoe
41. S/2003 J1 42. S/2003 J2 43. S/2003 J3 44. S/2003 J4
45. S/2003 J5 46. S/2003 J6 47. S/2003 J7 48. S/2003 J8
49. S/2003 J9 50. S/2003 J10 51. S/2003 J11 52. S/2003 J12
53. S/2003 J13 54. S/2003 J14 55. S/2003 J15 56. S/2003 J16
57. S/2003 J17 58. S/2003 J18 59. S/2003 J19
60. S/2003 J20 61. S/2003 J21 62. S/2003 J22
63. S/2003 J23

Answer 4

Jupiter Moons How Many

Answer 5

Our Moon has just been called "The Moon" for thousands of years before anybody ever knew there were other Moons. If there is only one, it doesn't need a name. Just like "The Sun" does not have a name even though we now know that it is just like many other stars that do have special names. Would you give "The Sky" a name just because our sky is not the only one, there are other skies on other planets? So to the ancient people who looked up into The sky and saw The Sun and The Moon, it didn't seem necessary to name them.

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How many moons does Jupiter have and what are their names?

Answer 7

Jupiter has five moons: Amalthea, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Answer 8

oh dude there are over 60 moons to date, I dont know why people are saying there are only five, Those are probably the biggest. Saturn has somewhere around 19 and growing every year.

Answer 9

Well,....... Rad has covered me...... so, the only thing I can do is to give you a site where you can get everyother available info you want about Jupiter:)

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?Jupiter

good luck and courage in your study:)

Answer 10

According to wikipedia, 63.