![]() Astronomers used their telescopes but even though Callisto is a large moon, it was too far away to get any details. Up until the 1960s, little was known about Callisto. Zeus and Callisto had a son and he is noted in the Little Bear Constellation. She is known as the Great Bear, or Plough, part of the constellation Ursa Major. Zeus’ wife, Hera, changed her into a bear and then Zeus turned her into a star and put her high up in the sky. She was a nymph that Zeus, the king of the gods, fell in love with. ![]() As time passed and telescopes improved, additional moons were discovered around Jupiter.Ĭallisto is the name of a mythological Greek character. Around the mid-1800s, the moons were given the names that they have today, and the former “IV” is now Callisto. He called each of the four moons by Roman numerals: I, II, III, and IV. Galileo named the four Jovian moons after a powerful and political Italian family, the Medicis. Galileo’s discovery not only changed the entire concept of science, but made the scientists realize that Earth rotated around the sun. They also thought that Earth was the only planet and ono other moons existed. Up until this point, astronomers thought that Earth was the center of the universe and everything, including the sun, orbited around Earth. He had a bit of difficulty telling the difference in two of the moons, because he wasn’t sure if they were two or a single moon. On January 7, 1610, Galileo turned his telescope toward Jupiter and was surprised to realize that there were moons circling it. Each moon is larger than the dwarf planet Pluto, and Ganymede is bigger than the planet Mercury and the largest moon in our solar system. They are called the Galilean moons, named after Galileo Galilei for his 1610 discovery of all four. The largest of Jupiter’s moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. This is one of the reasons that astronomers often refer to Jupiter and its moons as a “mini solar system.” Callisto Statistics: If this had happened, all 79 of the moons orbiting Jupiter, including Callisto, would have been planets. Scientists believe that if Jupiter had continue to grow it would have developed the nuclear fusion required to turn it into the second sun within our galaxy. Callisto is the outermost of these moons, orbiting just outside of the main radiation belt of Jupiter. The surface is also known for having bright areas that are thought to be ice and darker patches where the ice may have eroded.Ĭallisto is one of the four Galilean moons that also include Io, Europa, and Ganymede. Scientists believe that even though the surface of Callisto is rough looking, it may have a liquid ocean under its surface. Callisto is considered to have the most heavily cratered object in our solar system. ![]() Callisto is covered in craters which means that it has had been hit by a lot of asteroids and comets throughout its history. Callisto is the second largest moon orbiting Jupiter and is the third largest moon in our entire solar system.
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