Satellite Archives - Planet Facts https://planetfacts.org/category/space-terms/satellite/ Fun and Interesting Information About the Nine Planets Sun, 22 Jun 2014 18:47:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://planetfacts.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-planetfacts_logo-32x32.png Satellite Archives - Planet Facts https://planetfacts.org/category/space-terms/satellite/ 32 32 Libration https://planetfacts.org/libration/ Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:59:32 +0000 http://planet-facts.com/?p=1358 Libration refers to the movement of orbiting bodies in relation to one another. For instance, the movement of the Moon Relative to the Earth is an example of a Libration. One of the common examples of Libration is Lunar libration. The moon consists of a singular hemisphere, which faces the earth. Over time more of […]

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]]> Libration refers to the movement of orbiting bodies in relation to one another. For instance, the movement of the Moon Relative to the Earth is an example of a Libration. One of the common examples of Libration is Lunar libration. The moon consists of a singular hemisphere, which faces the earth. Over time more of the Moon’s surface more than 50 percent of the surface of the Moon has started to be visible to the earth because of Libration. In the early 60s only a portion of the moon was visible.

Libration started by a to and fro movement of the Moon as perceived from the Earth. This has caused the observers from the Earth to be able to see the many parts of the surface of the Moon at various times of the day. There consist three main types of lunar libration.

  1. Longitude libration- This happens because of the eccentricity of the Moon’s orbiting around the earth.
  2. Latitude libration- This happens fro a slight inclining of the Moon’s axis.
  3. Diurnal libration- This refers to the oscillation because of the rotating earth.

So therefore, Libration causes the Moon to be seen at different angles due to its orbit with respect to the Earth.

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]]> Galilean Moons https://planetfacts.org/galilean-moons/ Thu, 02 Jun 2011 21:10:04 +0000 http://planet-facts.com/?p=971 The Galilean moons/satellites are Jupiter?s four moons discovered by Galileo Galilei. Jupiter has many moons that orbits around it. These four moons are the largest of those moons. And its names were derived from the lovers of Greek god, Zeus. Those are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Io is the innermost Galilean moon. It is […]

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]]> The Galilean moons/satellites are Jupiter?s four moons discovered by Galileo Galilei. Jupiter has many moons that orbits around it. These four moons are the largest of those moons. And its names were derived from the lovers of Greek god, Zeus. Those are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

Io is the innermost Galilean moon. It is the 4th largest moon in the solar system. It was referred as the first satellite of Jupiter.

Europa is the second moon of the four. It is the second closest satellite to orbit Jupiter and the smallest. It is reported to be slightly smaller than the Earth's Moon.

Ganymede is the third satellite to orbit Jupiter. This Galilean moon is named after a cupbearer of the Greek gods. It is the largest satellite in the Solar System, and it is actually larger than planet Mercury.

Callisto is last Galilean moon/satellite. This fourth moon is the second largest among the four, and it in the solar system, it is the 3rd largest. Callisto consists of roughly equal amounts of ice and rock. These components make it the least impenetrable of the Galilean moons/satellites. It has a basin, called Valhalla, as one of its major features with a width of 3000 km.

Galilean Moons of Jupiter

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