Moons of the Solar System

Moons of the Solar System: real images of The Moon, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Titan, Enceladus and Triton, each labelled
Real images. Credits: NASA (Apollo 11); NASA/JPL/University of Arizona; NASA/JPL/DLR; NASA/JPL; NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute; NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute; NASA/JPL/USGS.

8 types

Explore eight remarkable moons of the Solar System, from our own Moon to volcanic Io and backwards-orbiting Triton, in real spacecraft images.

In this collection

  1. The Moon
  2. Io
  3. Europa
  4. Ganymede
  5. Callisto
  6. Titan
  7. Enceladus
  8. Triton

Each type up close

About this topic

Hundreds of moons orbit the planets of our Solar System. This collection shows a selection of the most remarkable: Earth’s Moon, Jupiter’s four large moons, two moons of Saturn and Neptune’s largest moon. They are shown at a similar size for clarity; in reality Ganymede is about one and a half times as wide as our Moon, and Enceladus is tiny by comparison.

Jupiter’s four large moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, are known as the Galilean moons, after Galileo Galilei, who discovered them in 1610.

The moons at a glance

MoonOrbitsDiameterNotable for
The MoonEarthAbout 3,476 kmThe only world beyond Earth that people have walked on
IoJupiterAbout 3,643 kmThe most volcanically active world in the Solar System
EuropaJupiterAbout 3,122 kmAn ocean thought to lie under its ice
GanymedeJupiterAbout 5,262 kmThe largest moon in the Solar System
CallistoJupiterAbout 4,821 kmThe most heavily cratered object in the Solar System
TitanSaturnAbout 5,150 kmA thick atmosphere and lakes of liquid methane
EnceladusSaturnAbout 504 kmJets of icy water spraying from its south pole
TritonNeptuneAbout 2,707 kmOrbits backwards around its planet

Sources

All Space & Astronomy