Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovered Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, on March 25, 1655. It was nearly 300 years later, in 1944, when Dutch-American astronomer Gerard Kuiper discovered one of the characteristics that makes Titan exceptional: this distant moon actually has an atmosphere.
What is the biggest moon ever discovered?
Ganymede (moon)
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mean radius | 2634.1±0.3 km (0.413 Earths) |
| Surface area | 8.72×107 km2 (0.171 Earths) |
| Volume | 7.66×1010 km3 (0.0704 Earths) |
What is the name of the largest moon?
Ganymede. 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.
Why is Ganymede not a planet?
Larger than Mercury and Pluto, and only slightly smaller than Mars, it would easily be classified as a planet if were orbiting the sun rather than Jupiter. … The moon likely has a salty ocean underneath its icy surface, making it a potential location for life.
Is Ganymede bigger than Mercury?
Size, Mass and Orbit:
With a mean radius of 2634.1 ± 0.3 kilometers (the equivalent of 0.413 Earths), Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system and is even larger than the planet Mercury.
Is Titan bigger than Earth?
Titan is the second largest moon in our solar system. Only Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is larger, by just 2 percent. Titan is bigger than Earth’s moon, and larger than even the planet Mercury.
Does Earth have 3 moons?
After more than half a century of speculation, it has now been confirmed that Earth has two dust ‘moons’ orbiting it which are nine times wider than our planet. … Earth doesn’t have just one moon, it has three.
What is the smallest moon?
Hippocamp is just 7,450 miles (12,000 km) interior to the largest and outermost of these other six, the 260-mile-wide (420 km) Proteus. Like Earth’s own moon, Proteus has been slowly spiraling away from its parent planet for eons — and so has Hippocamp, though at a much slower rate.
Which planet has most moons?
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| Planet / Dwarf Planet | Confirmed Moons | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Earth | 1 | 1 |
| Mars | 2 | 2 |
| Jupiter | 53 | 79 |
| Saturn | 53 | 82 |
Which Moon has the most water?
In 2015, NASA confirmed that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars. Also in 2015, scientists used data from NASA’s Cassini mission to discover that a global ocean lies beneath the icy crust of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Scientists believe that Jupiter’s moon Europa has a subsurface ocean as well.
Is Ganymede a God?
Ganymede is the god of homosexual love and desire. He was a divine hero whose homeland was Troy and was the most beautiful of mortals.
Does Jupiter’s moon have life?
A new model from NASA scientists supports the theory that the interior ocean in Jupiter’s moon Europa would be able to sustain life. However, the origins and composition of this ocean have been unclear. …
Can a moon be larger than its planet?
Moons are always smaller than the planet that they orbit (move around). … There are seven moons in our Solar System, including our own Moon, that are larger than Pluto. Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System, and Ganymede as well as Saturn’s moon Titan are both larger than Mercury and Pluto.
What is the smallest planet?
Mercury
Can we live on Callisto?
Callisto has a very thin atmosphere, is thought to contain an ocean, and is therefore another possible contender for life beyond Earth. However, its distance from Jupiter means it doesn’t experience such a strong gravitational pull, so it’s not as geologically active as the other Galilean moons of Io and Europa.
How long is a year on Ganymede?
172 hours