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2007-01-08 23:51:17 · 17 answers · asked by Anthony 3 in Science & Mathematics Astronomy & Space

17 answers

There is only one Moon. The Moon is the name for the satellite which orbits the Earth. The largest satellite in our solar system is Ganymede.

2007-01-08 23:59:28 · answer #1 · answered by voodoobluesman 5 · 1 1

Ganymede is the largest natural satellite in the solar system, followed by Titan (David C has Triton but he has confused Titan and Triton),

Here are the largest 20,
They range between 397-5262 km in diameter.

Where 2 or 3 dimensions are given, the object is not a perfect sphere in shape,

Primary and numeral Name Diameter (km)
1) Jupiter III Ganymede 5262.4
2) Saturn VI Titan 5151
3) Jupiter IV Callisto 4820.6
4) Jupiter I Io 3660.0 × 3637.4 × 3630.
5) Earth Moon 3476.2
6) Jupiter II Europa 3121.6
7) Neptune I Triton 2707
8) Uranus III Titania 1577.8 ± 3.6
9) Saturn V Rhea 1529 (1535 × 1525 × 1526)
10) Uranus IV Oberon 1522.8 ± 5.2
11) Saturn VIII Iapetus 1472 (1494 × 1498 × 1425)
12) Pluto I Charon 1207± 3
13) Uranus II Umbriel 1169.4 ± 5.6
14) Uranus I Ariel 1157.8 ± 1.2
15) Saturn IV Dione 1123 (1128 × 1122 × 1121)
16) Saturn III Tethys 1066 (1081 × 1062 × 1055)
17) Saturn II Enceladus 504 (513 × 503 × 497)
18) Uranus V Miranda 471.6 ± 1.4
19) Neptune VIII Proteus 418 (436 × 416 × 402)
20) Saturn I Mimas 397 (415 × 394 × 381)

2007-01-09 08:28:56 · answer #2 · answered by brucebirchall 7 · 2 0

The Moon, is the largest actual moon, in that the others are technically called saterlights of thier planets, However, if they are spherical, then it is ok to refer to them as moons...but to answer your question.

Jupiter has 63 moons and satalites. The approach to Jupiter has to be one of the most spectacular journeys in the Solar System. Jupiter has a multitude of large moons. And there is evidence that there may be many more smaller satellites. The origins of these smaller moons remains a mystery. Many are in 'retrograde orbit', meaning that they circle in the opposite direction to the major moons. So these odd moons may be asteroids that have been captured from the asteroid belt by Jupiter's immense gravity.

Four of Jupiter's moons - Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto - are easily visible with binoculars. When Galileo discovered these moons in 1610, they provided the first evidence that not all heavenly bodies revolved around the Earth.

Ganymede is the third and largest of Jupiter's main moons and is the largest moon in the Solar System, bigger than the planet Mercury - it has a diameter of of 5,262 km (3,280 miles).

Triton is the second largest moon - and the largest around the planet Neptune. Triton is the only large moon in the solar system that circles its planet in a direction opposite to the planet's rotation (a retrograde orbit). This suggests that it may once have been an independent object that was captured by Neptune.

2007-01-09 07:59:56 · answer #3 · answered by DAVID C 6 · 0 1

Jupiter's moon Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system with a diameter of 3,280 miles. That means that Ganymede is even larger than either of the major planets Mercury and Pluto. Saturn's moon Titian, is the second largest moon in the Solar System with a diameter of 3,200 miles. That's twice the size of Earth's Moon

2007-01-09 07:53:40 · answer #4 · answered by Karma Chimera 4 · 2 0

On Saturday, May 20, 2000, NASA's Galileo spacecraft successfully flew past the largest moon in our solar system -- Ganymede, which orbits around Jupiter. Galileo dipped to 809 kilometers (503 miles) above the surface in the spacecraft's first flyby of Ganymede since May 7, 1997.

"It's great that things went so smoothly," said Galileo Project Manager Jim Erickson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). "The team was ready for any problems, but they got to relax on this one. We're really looking forward to the new pictures and learning more about this largest of all moons."



Above: Ganymede, which orbits Jupiter, is slightly larger than the planet Mercury and more than three-quarters the size of the planet Mars. If it orbited the Sun, Ganymede would surely be considered a planet. Shown here in their correct relative sizes are a Hubble Space Telescope image of Mars, a Galileo image of Ganymede, a Mariner 10 mosaic of Mercury (the smooth stripe represents an area of missing data), and a Galileo spacecraft picture of the Moon.

At 4:00 a.m. PDT, mission controllers at JPL received a signal indicating that the flyby had taken place. The spacecraft's camera and other instruments were set to capture the flyby with images and other observations. If all goes as planned, the data will be transmitted to Earth over the next several months for processing and analysis.


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To fly by Ganymede, Galileo had to approach Jupiter's powerful radiation belts. Not surprisingly the radiation -- which can affect spacecraft instruments, components and systems -- did cause two main re-sets of Galileo's main computer. Onboard software correctly diagnosed this as a false indication, and proceeded with the Ganymede encounter as programmed.

"It appears that this workhorse spacecraft has done it again," Erickson said. Galileo has already survived three times the radiation it was designed to withstand.


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Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede is even larger than Mercury and Pluto. Its surface is a mixture of clean white ice and dirty dark ice, with varied geological formations including craters, basins, grooves and rough mountain areas.

Galileo was launched from the Space Shuttle Atlantis on October 18, 1989. After a long six-year journey to Jupiter, Galileo began orbiting the huge planet and its moons on December 7, 1995. It successfully completed its two-year primary mission on December 16, 1997. That was followed by a two-year extended mission which concluded in December 1999. Galileo is now continuing its studies under yet another extension, called the "Galileo Millennium Mission."

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA, manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

2007-01-09 08:15:20 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Ganymede is the largest moon of Jupiter and the largest moon in the Solar System.

2007-01-09 07:55:07 · answer #6 · answered by Detroit Diva 3 · 3 1

That's easy. Harlow C. Wannamaker of Willacoochie, SC. That boy can flash the biggest moon of anyone I know... oh, you meant the moons around planets. Boy, am I embarrassed. Harlow, too.

2007-01-09 08:00:22 · answer #7 · answered by Michael E 3 · 1 0

the biggest moon in the solar system is called jupiter.

2007-01-09 09:00:45 · answer #8 · answered by love 1 · 0 2

The correct term for thingys circling a planet is called "satellites". The name moon is the proper name for our satellite.

Moon is the biggest "moon"

2007-01-09 07:59:38 · answer #9 · answered by MK6 7 · 0 1

Ganymede

2007-01-09 07:54:47 · answer #10 · answered by Splishy 7 · 2 0

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