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List of Jupiter's moons facts for kids

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There are 79 known moons of Jupiter. Jupiter has the second largest number of moons with reasonably stable orbits of any planet in the Solar System.

The most massive of the moons are the four Galilean moons, which were independently discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and Simon Marius. They were the first objects found to orbit a body that was neither Earth nor the Sun. The Galilean moons are by far the largest and most massive objects to orbit Jupiter. The other 75 known moons and the rings together make up just 0.003% of the total orbiting mass. The four are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. They are roughly the same size as Earth's moon, some are a bit bigger, some are smaller.

From the end of the 19th century, dozens of much smaller Jovian moons have been discovered. All these are less than 250 kilometres (160 mi) in diameter, with most barely exceeding 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). Their orbital shapes range from nearly perfectly circular to highly eccentric and inclined. Many revolve in the direction opposite to Jupiter's spin (retrograde motion). Orbital periods range from seven hours (taking less time than Jupiter does to spin around its axis), to some three thousand times more (almost three Earth years).

List of moons

This list starts with those that go around Jupiter (orbit) the fastest. That is, they have the shortest orbital period. Moons highlighted in purple are the "Galilean moons," moons highlighted in dark gray have a retrograde orbit, and moons with the regular white background have a prograde orbit.

Label
Name
Pronunciation
(key)
Image Diameter
(km)
Mass
(×1016 kg)
Semi-major axis
(km)
Orbital period
(d)
Inclination
(°)
Eccentricity
Discovery year
Discoverer
Group
1 XVI Metis
Metis.jpg
60×40×34 ~3.6 127,690 +7h 4m 30s 0.06° 0.0002 1979 Synnott
(Voyager 1)
Inner
2 XV Adrastea
Adrastea.jpg
20×16×13 ~0.2 129,000 +7h 9m 30s 0.03° 0.0015 1979 Jewitt
(Voyager 2)
Inner
3 V Amalthea
Amalthea Mond.jpg
250×146×128 208 181,366 +11h 57m 23s 0.374° 0.0032 1892 Barnard Inner
4 XIV Thebe
Thebe.jpg
116×98×84 ~43 221,889 +16h 11m 17s 1.076° 0.0175 1979 Synnott
(Voyager 1)
Inner
5 I Io
Io highest resolution true color.jpg
3,660.0×3,637.4
×3,630.6
8,900,000 421,700 +1.769 137 786 0.050° 0.0041 1610 Galilei Galilean
6 II Europa
Europa-moon.jpg
3,121.6 4,800,000 671,034 +3.551 181 041 0.471° 0.0094 1610 Galilei Galilean
7 III Ganymede
Noaa ganymede.jpg
5,262.4 15,000,000 1,070,412 +7.154 552 96 0.204° 0.0011 1610 Galilei Galilean
8 IV Callisto
Callisto.jpg
4,820.6 11,000,000 1,882,709 +16.689 018 4 0.205° 0.0074 1610 Galilei Galilean
9 XVIII Themisto 8 0.069 7,393,216 +129.87 45.762° 0.2115 1975/2000 Kowal & Roemer/
Sheppard et al.
Themisto
10 XIII Leda 16 0.6 11,187,781 +241.75 27.562° 0.1673 1974 Kowal Himalia
11 VI Himalia
Himalia from New Horizons.jpg
170 670 11,451,971 +250.37 30.486° 0.1513 1904 Perrine Himalia
12 X Lysithea 36 6.3 11,740,560 +259.89 27.006° 0.1322 1938 Nicholson Himalia
13 VII Elara 86 87 11,778,034 +261.14 29.691° 0.1948 1905 Perrine Himalia
14 Dia 4 0.009 0 12 570 424 +287.93 27.584° 0.2058 2001 Sheppard et al. Himalia
15 XLVI Carpo 3 0.004 5 17,144,873 +458.62 56.001° 0.2735 2003 Sheppard et al. Carpo
16 S/2003 J 12 1 0.000 15 17,739,539 −482.69 142.680° 0.4449 2003 Sheppard et al. ?
17 XXXIV Euporie 2 0.001 5 19,088,434 −538.78 144.694° 0.0960 2002 Sheppard et al. Ananke
18 S/2003 J 3 2 0.001 5 19,621,780 −561.52 146.363° 0.2507 2003 Sheppard et al. Ananke
19 S/2003 J 18 2 0.001 5 19,812,577 −569.73 147.401° 0.1569 2003 Gladman et al. Ananke
20 XLII Thelxinoe 2 0.001 5 20,453,753 −597.61 151.292° 0.2684 2003 Sheppard et al. Ananke
21 XXXIII Euanthe 3 0.004 5 20,464,854 −598.09 143.409° 0.2000 2002 Sheppard et al. Ananke
22 XLV Helike 4 0.009 0 20,540,266 −601.40 154.586° 0.1374 2003 Sheppard et al. Ananke
23 XXXV Orthosie 2 0.001 5 20,567,971 −602.62 142.366° 0.2433 2002 Sheppard et al. Ananke
24 XXIV Iocaste 5 0.019 20,722,566 −609.43 147.248° 0.2874 2001 Sheppard et al. Ananke
25 S/2003 J 16 2 0.001 5 20,743,779 −610.36 150.769° 0.3184 2003 Gladman et al. Ananke
26 XXVII Praxidike 7 0.043 20,823,948 −613.90 144.205° 0.1840 2001 Sheppard et al. Ananke
27 XXII Harpalyke 4 0.012 21,063,814 −624.54 147.223° 0.2440 2001 Sheppard et al. Ananke
28 XL Mneme 2 0.001 5 21,129,786 −627.48 149.732° 0.3169 2003 Gladman et al. Ananke
29 XXX Hermippe 4 0.009 0 21,182,086 −629.81 151.242° 0.2290 2002 Sheppard et al. Ananke?
30 XXIX Thyone 4 0.009 0 21,405,570 −639.80 147.276° 0.2525 2002 Sheppard et al. Ananke
31 XII Ananke 28 3.0 21,454,952 −642.02 151.564° 0.3445 1951 Nicholson Ananke
32 L Herse 2 0.001 5 22,134,306 −672.75 162.490° 0.2379 2003 Gladman et al. Carme
33 XXXI Aitne 3 0.004 5 22,285,161 −679.64 165.562° 0.3927 2002 Sheppard et al. Carme
34 XXXVII Kale 2 0.001 5 22,409,207 −685.32 165.378° 0.2011 2002 Sheppard et al. Carme
35 XX Taygete 5 0.016 22,438,648 −686.67 164.890° 0.3678 2001 Sheppard et al. Carme
36 S/2003 J 19 2 0.001 5 22,709,061 −699.12 164.727° 0.1961 2003 Gladman et al. Carme
37 XXI Chaldene 4 0.007 5 22,713,444 −699.33 167.070° 0.2916 2001 Sheppard et al. Carme
38 S/2003 J 15 2 0.001 5 22,720,999 −699.68 141.812° 0.0932 2003 Sheppard et al. Ananke?
39 S/2003 J 10 2 0.001 5 22,730,813 −700.13 163.813° 0.3438 2003 Sheppard et al. Carme?
40 S/2003 J 23 2 0.001 5 22,739,654 −700.54 148.849° 0.3930 2004 Sheppard et al. Pasiphaë
41 XXV Erinome 3 0.004 5 22,986,266 −711.96 163.737° 0.2552 2001 Sheppard et al. Carme
42 XLI Aoede 4 0.009 0 23,044,175 −714.66 160.482° 0.6011 2003 Sheppard et al. Pasiphaë
43 XLIV Kallichore 2 0.001 5 23,111,823 −717.81 164.605° 0.2041 2003 Sheppard et al. Carme?
44 XXIII Kalyke 5 0.019 23,180,773 −721.02 165.505° 0.2139 2001 Sheppard et al. Carme
45 XI Carme 46 13 23,197,992 −721.82 165.047° 0.2342 1938 Nicholson Carme
46 XVII Callirrhoe 9 0.087 23,214,986 −722.62 139.849° 0.2582 2000 Gladman et al. Pasiphaë
47 XXXII Eurydome 3 0.004 5 23,230,858 −723.36 149.324° 0.3769 2002 Sheppard et al. Pasiphaë?
48 XXXVIII Pasithee 2 0.001 5 23,307,318 −726.93 165.759° 0.3288 2002 Sheppard et al. Carme
49 XLIX Kore 2 0.001 5 23,345,093 −776.02 137.371° 0.1951 2003 Sheppard et al. Pasiphaë
50 XLVIII Cyllene 2 0.001 5 23,396,269 −731.10 140.148° 0.4115 2003 Sheppard et al. Pasiphaë
51 XLVII Eukelade 4 0.009 0 23,483,694 −735.20 163.996° 0.2828 2003 Sheppard et al. Carme
52 S/2003 J 4 2 0.001 5 23,570,790 −739.29 147.175° 0.3003 2003 Sheppard et al. Pasiphaë
53 VIII Pasiphaë 60 30 23,609,042 −741.09 141.803° 0.3743 1908 Gladman et al. Pasiphaë
54 XXXIX Hegemone 3 0.004 5 23,702,511 −745.50 152.506° 0.4077 2003 Sheppard et al. Pasiphaë
55 XLIII Arche 3 0.004 5 23,717,051 −746.19 164.587° 0.1492 2002 Sheppard et al. Carme
56 XXVI Isonoe 4 0.007 5 23,800,647 −750.13 165.127° 0.1775 2001 Sheppard et al. Carme
57 S/2003 J 9 1 0.000 15 23,857,808 −752.84 164.980° 0.2761 2003 Sheppard et al. Carme
58 S/2003 J 5 4 0.009 0 23,973,926 −758.34 165.549° 0.3070 2003 Sheppard et al. Carme
59 IX Sinope 38 7.5 24,057,865 −762.33 153.778° 0.2750 1914 Nicholson Pasiphaë
60 XXXVI Sponde 2 0.001 5 24,252,627 −771.60 154.372° 0.4431 2002 Sheppard et al. Pasiphaë
61 XXVIII Autonoe 4 0.009 0 24,264,445 −772.17 151.058° 0.3690 2002 Sheppard et al. Pasiphaë
62 XIX Megaclite 5 0.021 24,687,239 −792.44 150.398° 0.3077 2001 Sheppard et al. Pasiphaë
63 S/2003 J 2 Destiny 2 0.001 5 30,290,846 −1 077.02 153.521° align="right"| 0.1882 2003 Sheppard et al. ?

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