![]() ![]() Callisto’s day thus equals its month: 17 days. Like our own Moon, Callisto rotates in the same period as it revolves, so it always keeps the same face toward Jupiter. Its distance from Jupiter is about 2 million kilometers, and it orbits the planet in 17 days. This makes it a convenient object with which other, more active, worlds can be compared. We begin our discussion of the Galilean moons with the outermost one, Callisto, not because it is remarkable but because it is not. We include Titan, Saturn’s one big moon, here for comparison.) Table 1 summarizes some basic facts about these large moons (plus our own Moon for comparison). (Beginning in 2004, we received an even greater bonanza of information about Titan, obtained from the Cassini spacecraft and its Huygens probe, which landed on its surface. Explain how tidal forces generate the geological activity we see on Europa and Ioįrom 1996 to 1999, the Galileo spacecraft careered through the jovian system on a complex but carefully planned trajectory that provided repeated close encounters with the large Galilean moons.Describe the major distinguishing characteristic of Io.Explain what may be responsible for the unusual features on the icy surface of Europa.Explain the evidence for tectonic and volcanic activity on Ganymede.Describe the major features we can observe about Callisto and what we can deduce from them.By the end of this section, you will be able to: ![]()
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