42. Ganymede

Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter, is the largest moon so far known to humans. The circumference is about 16,530 kilometres and would be classified as a planet if it orbited the sun, and not Jupiter.

Ganymede is a really large moon, and it is so big that it would be bigger than Pluto, Ceres, Eris, The Moon, Haumea, Mercury and many more celestial bodies. About 7 Ganymedes would fit in Earth because it is slightly smaller than Mars.

Ganymede is in a group of moons around Jupiter called the Galilean moons. This group consists of three other moons known as Europa, Callisto, and io. These moons were discovered by a famous astronomer, Galileo Galilei in 1610. The Galilean moons are the biggest moons orbiting Jupiter, and they are all at the top of the list of largest moons in the solar system.

Believe it or not, lots of probes have visited Ganymede. starting with pioneer 10,

Voyager 1 and 2 measured it's circumference and diameter, while not a long time after, Galileo (The Spacecraft) discovered it's underwater ocean and magnetic field. The next mission to go to Ganymede, is still being organised and planned. The probe's name is the European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE), and it is due to launch in 2023.

I hope you enjoyed reading about the biggest moon, Ganymede! Make sure to check out my youtube channel and subscribe. Until next time, Give Me Space!