Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
Ganymede at 2.6 million miles
Original Caption Released with Image:
This photo of Ganymede, largest of Jupiter's Galilean satellites and the third from the planet, was taken shortly after midnight March 1, from a distance of 2.6 million miles (4.2 million kilometers). Ganymede is slightly larger than the planet Mercury, but is much less dense; it has = roughly twice the density of water. Ganymede's surface brightness is = four times that of Earth's Moon. This photo shows dark features = reminiscent of the dark, mare regions on the Moon. On Ganymede, however, = these features have twice the brightness of lunar mare. Scientists = believe they are unlikely to be composed of rock or lava as the Moon's = mare regions are. Ganymede's north polar region appears to be covered = with brighter material, and scientists say it could be water frost. = Later photos of Ganymede will be taken from closer range and will = therefore have higher resolution if those photos of the polar region show = underlying terrain blanketed by frost, it could indicate movement of water= across Ganymede's surface, possibly in a very thin atmosphere. Brighter = spots are also scattered across this hemisphere of Ganymede. They may be = related to impact craters, or may represent source regions of fresh ice. = JPL manages and controls the Voyager project for NASA's Office of Space = Science.
Addition Date:
1996-07-17
Produced By:
JPL
Mission:
Voyager
Spacecraft:
Voyager 1
Target Name:
Ganymede
Is a satellite of:
Jupiter
Instrument:
Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle
Product Size:
300 samples x 300 lines
Primary Data Set:
Voyager EDRs
Producer ID:
P21180
facet_what:
Mercury
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Jupiter
facet_what:
Voyager
facet_what:
Voyager 1
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Polar
facet_what:
Ganymede
facet_what:
Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)
facet_what:
Ganymede (Jupiter Moon)
facet_where:
Mercury
facet_where:
Jupiter
facet_where:
Ganymede
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Image #:
PIA00351
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA00351
orignial url:

Ganymede at 2.6 million miles