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In descending order, the five largest are: Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, Io and Earth’s «original» Moon. The moons, or natural satellites, are stars that circle around a planet. There are about 160 in the solar system – around Jupiter alone there are 63! It has moons of all sizes. Ganymede and Titan are even larger than the planet Mercury – which is 4,880 kilometers in diameter. Deimos on Mars, one of the smallest known moons, is just 12.6 kilometers across. There are several explanations for the emergence of natural satellites.
Our Moon probably belonged to the same body as Earth until a third star hit the block and split it into two pieces. “As the mass that remained on the piece of Earth was much greater, the Moon was attracted and started circling around the planet”, says astronomer Rundsthen Vasques. Different origins have Io, Ganymede and Callisto, probably attracted by Jupiter after the explosion that created the solar system. “There are even smaller satellites that were asteroids or comets and that were attracted by planets”, says astronomer Tasso Napoleão.
Titan may have life, and Io’s surface resembles melted pizzaMoonPlanet Earth
Diameter – 3 476 km
The surface of the Moon is covered with a layer of dust and rock debris produced by meteor strikes. It was this constant bombardment of meteors and comets that probably brought the ice that is now concentrated at the satellite’s poles.
IO
Planet – Jupiter
Diameter – 3 630 km
NASA, the American space agency, compares Io to a pizza topped with cheese and olive oil… It is the most volcanically active body in the solar system and the intense heat leaves its yellowish surface in a constant liquid state.
Callisto
Planet – Jupiter
Diameter – 4 800 km
With a rocky core surrounded by a thick layer of ice, Callisto is probably the most cratered star in the solar system. The landscape there is the same as it was 4 billion years ago. Since then, there have been no geological activities
Titan
Planet – Saturn
Diameter – 5 150 km
It has a dense atmosphere that scientists believe is very similar to Earth’s early atmosphere. The existence of organic matter (methane and ethane) may be an indication of the presence of life. “It is a very favorable environment for bacteria”, says Tasso Napoleão
Ganymede
Planet – Jupiter
Diameter – 5 262 km
Ganymede has a rocky core and a surface formed by rock and ice sheets. It has a dark side full of craters and a bright side that shelters valleys and mountains that can reach kilometers in height.