The Galilean moons are the four moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo Galilei. By far the largest of the many moons of Jupiter, they were visible with the low-power telescope he invented. They were first observed by Galileo on January 7, 1610.
Galileo observed the moons' motion over several days and realized that they were in orbit around Jupiter. This discovery supported the heliocentric theory of Copernicus and showed that not everything revolves around the Earth.
In order from closest to Jupiter to farthest away, they are:
| Group | Name | Diameter (km) | Mass (kg) | Mean orbital radius (km) |
Orbital period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Io | 3632 | 8.92×1022 | 421,600 | 1.76 days |
| Europa | 3138 | 4.8×1022 | 670,900 | 3.55 days | |
| Ganymede | 5262 | 1.49×1023 | 1,070,000 | 7.16 days | |
| Callisto | 4820 | 1.08×1023 | 1,883,000 | 16.69 days |
See also: Jupiter's moons