﻿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 November 28 [2]A tan sphere is shown with dark markings and a few light craters. The sphere is the largest known moon in the Solar System: Jupiter's moon Ganymede. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Ganymede from Juno Image Credit & Copyright: [3]NASA/[4]JPL-Caltech/[5]SwRI/[6]MSSS; Processing & [7]License: [8]Kevin M. Gill; Explanation: What does the largest moon in the Solar System look like? [9]Jupiter's moon [10]Ganymede, larger than even [11]Mercury and [12]Pluto, has an icy surface speckled with bright young craters overlying a mixture of older, darker, more cratered terrain laced with [13]grooves and ridges. The cause of the grooved terrain remains a [14]topic of research, with a leading hypothesis relating it to shifting ice plates. [15]Ganymede is thought to have an [16]ocean layer that contains more water than Earth -- and [17]might contain life. Like [18]Earth's Moon, Ganymede keeps the [19]same face towards its central planet, in this case Jupiter. The [20]featured image was captured in 2021 by NASA's robotic Juno spacecraft when it passed by the immense moon. The close pass reduced Juno's orbital period around Jupiter from 53 days to 43 days. [21]Juno continues to study the [22]giant planet's high gravity, unusual [23]magnetic field, and complex [24]cloud structures. Follow Podcasts about APOD's Images: on [25]YouTube Tomorrow's picture: double twister __________________________________________________________________ [26]< | [27]Archive | [28]Submissions | [29]Index | [30]Search | [31]Calendar | [32]RSS | [33]Education | [34]About APOD | [35]Discuss | [36]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell ([40]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [41]Specific rights apply. [42]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC, [46]NASA Science Activation & [47]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2311/Ganymede2_JunoGill_3445.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ 5. https://www.swri.org/ 6. http://www.msss.com/ 7. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 8. https://www.flickr.com/people/kevinmgill/ 9. https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/ 10. https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/moons/ganymede/facts/ 11. https://science.nasa.gov/mercury/ 12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap960711.html 14. https://www.gapphotos.com/images/WebPreview/0100/0100358.jpg 15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganymede_(moon) 16. https://youtu.be/9e1wrjFSjkI 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/debate/debate100th.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210503.html 19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_locking 20. https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmgill/51238659798/ 21. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-juno-mission-expands-into-the-future 22. https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/mission/ 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200225.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230523.html 25. https://www.youtube.com/@apodpodcast/videos 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231127.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 32. https://apod.com/feed.rss 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 35. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=231128 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231129.html 37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/ 45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 46. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 47. http://www.mtu.edu/