This is a composite image of the small moons of Saturn.
Click on image for full size
Metis was discovered by S. Synnott of the Voyager
team in 1979. It is the moon closest to Jupiter, with a standoff distance of 127,960 km. Metis is one of the small moons
, and is about the size of the city of Los Angeles, at about 40 km
Metis and Adrastea may function as shepherd satellites for the Jovian ring
system. As a small moon, the composition and surface features of Metis are unknown.
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Adrastea is a small moon of Jupiter. Of Jupiter's 60 moons, it is the second closest to the planet. Adrastea was discovered by David Jewitt and Ed Danielson of the Voyager team in 1979. Adrastea is tiny...more
Amalthea was discovered by E Barnard in 1872. Of the 17 moons it is the 3rd closest to Jupiter. Amalthea is about the size of a county or small state. Amalthea is named after the goat in Greek mythology...more
Callisto was first discovered by Galileo in 1610. It is the 2nd largest moon in the solar system, and is larger than the Earth's moon. It is about as big as the distance across the United States. Callisto...more
Measurements by the Galileo spacecraft have been shown that Callisto is the same inside from the center to the surface. This means that Callisto does not have a core at the center. This means that, unlike...more
Many different types of surface are shown in this picture. In the front is a huge crater, which goes for a long way over the surface. This crater could be compared to that of Mimas. They both show that...more
The surface of Callisto is deeply marked with craters. Craters are the little white marks in the picture. It looks like it might be the most heavily cratered body in the whole solar system. And some of...more