Abstract
The four large moons of Jupiter — Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto — form the most coherently organized planetary system known. Over the past two years, the Galileo spacecraft has deepened our knowledge of how these worlds are interconnected, and illuminated the uniqueness of each. Gravity data are beginning to reveal the moons' internal structure, and a new conundrum is emerging: how did outermost Callisto stay cool enough to remain an undifferentiated mixture of ice and rock?
The four large moons of Jupiter form the most coherently organized planetary system known. Over the past two years, the Galileo spacecraft has illuminated both the interconnections between these worlds and the uniqueness of each, challenging theories of moon formation and evolution.
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McKinnon, W. Galileo at Jupiter — meetings with remarkable moons. Nature 390, 23–26 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/36222
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/36222
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