Portal:Astronomy/Featured/June 2008

Callisto ( kə- LIS -toe, or as Greek Καλλιστώ) is a moon of the planet Jupiter, discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei. It is the third-largest moon in the Solar System and the second largest in the Jovian system, after Ganymede. Callisto has about 99% the diameter of the planet Mercury but only about a third of its mass. It is the fourth Galilean moon of Jupiter by distance, with an orbital radius of about 1,880,000 kilometers. It does not form part of the orbital resonance that affects three inner Galilean satellites—Io, Europa and Ganymede—and thus does not experience appreciable tidal heating. Callisto rotates synchronously with its orbital period, so the same face is always turned toward Jupiter. Callisto's surface is less affected by Jupiter's magnetosphere than the other inner satellites because it orbits further away.

Callisto is composed of approximately equal amounts of rock and ices, with a mean density of about 1.83 g/cm3. Compounds detected spectrally on the surface include water ice, carbon dioxide, silicates, and organics. Investigation by the Galileo spacecraft revealed that Callisto may have a small silicate core and possibly a subsurface ocean of liquid water at depths greater than 100 kilometers.

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