GALILEAN MOONS (PART - 1 )

 GALILEAN MOONS :

                               Jupiter has 80 moons. Fifty-seven moons have been given official names by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Another 23 moons are awaiting official names.
Many interesting moons are orbiting the planet, but the ones of most scientific interest are the first four moons discovered beyond Earth – the Galilean satellites: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Callisto :

Diameter: 4820 Km

Callisto is Jupiter’s second-largest moon and the third-largest moon in our solar system. Its surface is the most heavily cratered of any object in our solar system. Images of Callisto captured by passing spacecraft show bright white spots standing out against darker regions. Scientists think the bright areas are mostly ice and the darker patches are areas where the ice has eroded.

Once thought to be a dead, inactive rocky body, data gathered by the Galileo spacecraft in the 1990s indicate Callisto may have a salty ocean beneath its icy surface. More recent research reveals that this ocean may be located deeper beneath the surface than previously thought, or may not exist at all. If an ocean is present, the ocean may be interacting with rock on Callisto, creating a potential habitat for life.

upcoming will be about Europa moon