What is the terrain of Ganymede?

What is the terrain of Ganymede?

Spacecraft images of Ganymede show its surface is a mix of two types of terrain. Forty percent of the surface is covered by highly cratered dark regions, and the remaining sixty percent is covered by a light grooved terrain, which forms intricate patterns across the moon.

What is Ganymede composition?

With an average density of 1.936 g/cm3, Ganymede is most likely composed of equal parts rocky material and water ice. It is estimated that water ice constitutes 46–50% of the moon’s mass (slightly lower than that of Callisto) with the possibility of some additional volatile ices such as ammonia being present.

What is the surface of Ganymede like?

Ganymede’s surface is similar to that of Earth’s moon in that is composed of two types of terrain. About half of the surface is old and cratered while the rest consists of much younger, lighter regions. Unlike the Moon, however, craters on Ganymede lack ring mountains and central depressions.

What is the atmospheric composition of Ganymede?

oxygen
Ganymede has a thin oxygen atmosphere that includes O, O2, and possibly O3 (ozone). Atomic hydrogen is a minor atmospheric constituent. Whether Ganymede has an ionosphere associated with its atmosphere is unresolved. Ganymede’s discovery is credited to Galileo Galilei, the first to observe it, on January 7, 1610.

What are the lines on Ganymede?

We think that, as Ganymede s unusual surface features comprise craters and furrows or striations: That these craters are due to impacts of objects from space (particularly those drawn in by the huge gravitational field of Jupiter).

Is Ganymede geologically active?

Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system (larger than the planet Mercury), and is the only moon known to have its own internally generated magnetic field. Io is in a gravitational tug-of-war with Ganymede and Europa that drives the tides that make these moons so geologically active.

What is the climate on Ganymede?

The scientists focused on how the surface temperature of Ganymede varies strongly throughout the day, with highs of about minus 190 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 123 degrees Celsius) at noon at the equator and lows of about minus 315 degrees Fahrenheit (193 degrees Celsius) at night.

What is Ganymede orbital period?

172 hours
Ganymede/Orbital period

Does Ganymede rotate on its axis?

Ganymede is the only moon in the solar system that has its own magnetic field. The effect of Jupiter’s magnetic field on Ganymede changes every 10 hours, which is the length of time it takes the planet to make a full rotation on its axis.

Why is Ganymede the most famous moon?

Ganymede is one of the most well known moons because of its vast size. It orbits around the planet Jupiter, and it’s the third furthest moon from the planet itself. And as one of the many different planets within our solar system, its cratered dark regions make it increasingly interesting for astronomers.

What are the physical features of Ganymede?

Overview. Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system and the only moon with its own magnetic field. The magnetic field causes auroras, which are ribbons of glowing, electrified gas, in regions circling the moon’s north and south poles. Ganymede has large, bright regions of ridges and grooves that slice across older, darker terrains.

What is the distance between moon Io and Ganymede?

The moon ‘Io’ orbit Jupiter from a distance of around 422,000 kilometers. Whereas the moon Ganymede orbit Jupiter from an average distance of around 1,070,400 kilometers. 3. Largest and most massive in Galilean Satellites

What is the relationship between Jupiter and Ganymede?

Outward from Jupiter, it is the seventh satellite and the third of the Galilean moons, the first group of objects discovered orbiting another planet. Ganymede orbits Jupiter in roughly seven days and is in a 1:2:4 orbital resonance with the moons Europa and Io, respectively.