Ganymede, the largest satellite in the solar system, is a moon of which planet?
- A.Saturn
- B.Mars
- C.Jupiter
- D.Neptune
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Jupiter. Ganymede is one of the four large moons of Jupiter first seen by Galileo, the others being Io, Europa and Callisto, and it is larger than the planet Mercury, which makes it the biggest satellite in the solar system. Jupiter, the largest planet, has by far the most striking family of moons among the giant planets.
Option A, Saturn, has Titan, the second largest satellite and the only moon with a thick atmosphere. Option B, Mars, has only two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are captured bodies shaped like potatoes. Option D, Neptune, has Triton, remembered because it moves around its planet in the direction opposite to the planet's rotation. Note also that Mercury and Venus have no satellite at all.
Read the full article: Solar System and the Earth: Planets, Moon and Motions
Practice Questions
View allWhich is the hottest planet of the solar system?
- A.Mercury
- B.Venus
- C.Mars
- D.Jupiter
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Venus is wrapped in a very thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide, which lets sunlight in but does not let the heat escape.
Read the full explanation →Approximately how long does sunlight take to reach the Earth?
- A.8 minutes 20 seconds
- B.1.3 seconds
- C.4.2 years
- D.24 hours
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The Sun is about 149.6 million kilometres from the Earth, a distance called one astronomical unit, and light travels about three lakh kilometres in a second.
Read the full explanation →Which is the largest planet of the solar system?
- A.Saturn
- B.Neptune
- C.Jupiter
- D.Uranus
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Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest of all by both diameter and mass; it is a gas giant of hydrogen and helium.
Read the full explanation →Apart from Uranus, which planet rotates on its axis from east to west, that is in a direction opposite to most planets?
- A.Mercury
- B.Venus
- C.Mars
- D.Saturn
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Almost every planet, the Earth included, rotates from west to east, which is why the Sun appears to rise in the east.
Read the full explanation →The occurrence of seasons on the Earth is caused mainly by which of the following?
- A.The changing distance between the Earth and the Sun
- B.The rotation of the Earth on its axis
- C.The tilt of the Earth's axis along with its revolution around the Sun
- D.The gravitational pull of the Moon
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The axis of the Earth is tilted about 23.5 degrees from the vertical and keeps pointing in the same direction throughout the year.
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