Talk:Ganymede (moon)

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[edit] image

The link/caption under the image looks crappy. dark blue on black, only the word "image" is visible on mine, and it shouldnt be in italics. - Omegatron

I changed it, but it could probably be standardized, along with the other moons, planets, or any images, i guess. - Omegatron

[edit] adjectival form

The OED has "Ganymedean" (no pronunciation given) for 'a follower of Ganymede', but its Latin source (Ganymēdēus) is for anything pertaining to Ganymede. Therefore 'Ganymedean' would serve as a general adjectival/denomymic form.

The pronunciation to be expected from the Latin long vowels is gan'-i-mi-dee'-un. Generally, when dealing with classical names ending in a long e like this one, the spelling -ian is used to prevent the stress from shifting to that long-e penult. However, this alternate form of the word (*Ganymedian gan'-i-mee'-dee-un) is unattested. kwami 01:44, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)

It has been noted that both Ganymede and Europa have tenuous atmosphers of Oxygen. Would this Oxygen be breathable (if warmed up to say zero farenhite) by us?

[edit] Idea for an image

Since the article states that it can be seen with the naked eye, are there any GFDL images of said moon? Or even a simulated recreation of what it'd look like? youngamerican (ahoy-hoy) 02:02, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] visible by eye?

Is this for real? I can see that it's magnitude of 4.6 makes it potentially visible, but I would think that Jupiter's glare might be a problem. If it was visible, how come not a single ancient astronomer seems to have noticed, and we had to wait for Galileo to come along with his telescope? Deuar 17:44, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

None of the other wikipedia pages dealing with the galilean satelites say that any of them are observable by the naked eye. I also always understood that being so close to jupiter, they are not individually visible. 66.7.119.190 23:56, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

Interesting question. A Google search turned up only three references to this. One of them is unclear, another I'm suspicious of, and I'm not sure the third is relevant.

This planetarium website says that Ganymede is "...the only moon outside of our own large enough to be seen with the naked eye." That doesn't specifically say whether it can be seen; just that it's large enough.

This page discusses anecdotal evidence of seeing the Galilean satellites with the naked eye. It claims to be from "Sky and Telescope, December, 1976, pp. 482-84". It sure looks good, but it's on this Denis Dutton's personal web site, I wouldn't expect him to write for Sky and Telescope, and I can't turn up any evidence of the article outside of his web site. Does anybody have an old copy of Sky and Telescope? Anybody want to do some library research?

Oh, yeah, one more reference: Ganymede may be/have been visible during a rare occultation of Jupiter by Earth's Moon.

- Ken g6 03:16, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Gan De reported to have seen one of the moons of Jupiter. I am the one that added Callisto since, as I stated on my edit summary, "Ganymede is twice as bright, but Callisto orbits further out from the planet and Jupiter is several hundred times brighter than either." Callisto orbits at 1.8 Gm / APmag 5.6 and Ganymede orbits at 1 Gm / APmag 4.6.
-- Kheider 17:26, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Volcanic activity

Hi, is Ganymede volcanic? --Kjoonlee 13:01, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

In the past, it was. Now, it isn't. Might be something to add to the article. Shrewpelt 12:28, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Source: [1]

[edit] Atmosphere

The atmosphere was not found in the mid-1980s but 1972. See de:Ganymed (Mond) for correct citation.--CWitte 14:03, 5 August 2007 (UTC)

Done it myself...--CWitte 15:02, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] For later

[edit] Merge attempt

Cratering is seen on both types of terrain, but is especially extensive on the dark terrain: it appears to be saturated with impact craters and has evolved largely through impact events.[1] The brighter grooved terrain contains much fewer impact features, which have been only of a minor importance to its tectonic evolution.[1] The density of cratering indicates an age of 4 billion years for the dark terrain, similar to the highlands of the Moon, and a somewhat younger age for the bright grooved terrain (but how much younger is uncertain). Ganymede may have experienced a period of heavy cratering 3.5 to 4 billion years ago similar to that of the Moon. If true, the vast majority of the impacts happened in that epoch, while the cratering rate has been much smaller since then.[2] Craters both overlay and are cross-cut by the groove systems indicating that some of the grooves are quite ancient. Relatively young craters with rays of ejecta are also visible.[3][2] Ganymedean craters are quite flat, lacking the ring mountains and central depressions common to craters on the Moon and Mercury. This is probably due to the relatively weak nature of Ganymede's icy crust which can flow and thereby soften the relief. Ancient craters whose relief has disappeared leaving only a "ghost" of a crater are known as palimpsests.[2]