Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
July 12, 1996
Ancient Cratered Plains on Ganymede
Credit:
Galileo Mission
Team,
Galileo Spacecraft,
NASA
Explanation: The largest moon in the Solar System shows regions that are ancient and battered. The high density of craters demonstrate that patches of Ganymede are indeed billions of years old. This photo is one of a series released by NASA two days ago from the Galileo spacecraft orbiting Jupiter. The large impact crater on the left is 19 kilometers across, while dark indentations in Ganymede's crusty surface-ice run diagonally. Ganymede is composed of half rock and half water-ice. The Galileo spacecraft will continue to orbit Jupiter over the next 16 months and send back data about Jupiter and its four largest moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry
Bonnell (USRA).
NASA Technical Rep.:
Sherri
Calvo.
Specific rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA
at
NASA/
GSFC