Jupiter's Many Moons

  • Released Tuesday, January 22, 2013
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NOTE: The orbital plane of the moons in these visualizations is incorrect. The Galilean moons should be aligned to Jupiter's equator.

More than 60 moons surround Jupiter, creating a complex web of orbits.

More than 60 moons surround Jupiter, creating a complex web of orbits.

Watch as the simple orbits of Jupiter's inner moons become masked by a swarm of distant moons.

Jupiter's innermost moons, from left to right: Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, and Thebe.

Jupiter's innermost moons, from left to right: Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, and Thebe.

Jupiter's Galilean moons, from left to right: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Jupiter's Galilean moons, from left to right: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Ganymede is both Jupiter's largest moon and the largest moon in the solar system.

Ganymede is both Jupiter's largest moon and the largest moon in the solar system.

Io, Jupiter's third largest moon, casts a small shadow on the planet in this image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Io, Jupiter's third largest moon, casts a small shadow on the planet in this image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Innermost moons image courtesy of NASA/The Galileo Project
Galilean moons image courtesy of NASA/JHU-APL/Southwest Research Institute
Ganymede image courtesy of NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk
Hubble image courtesy of NASA/ESA/Lowell Observatory/J. Spencer

This page was originally published on Tuesday, January 22, 2013.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:52 PM EDT.