Emily Lakdawalla • Jul 10, 2013
Scale comparisons of the solar system's major moons
Here's a presentation slide I've been meaning to put together for a while. It shows the major moons of the eight planets, to scale with each other. Below is a labeled version. You can download one without text here, and if you scroll down I've got a couple of alternative layouts.
Note: it's been pointed out to me that the Callisto image is from Voyager, not Galileo. I'll fix the text on the image eventually. --ESL
![The Solar System's Major Moons](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_2400x1350_crop_center-center_82_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-by-location-withtext.jpg 2400w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x675_crop_center-center_82_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-by-location-withtext.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x432_crop_center-center_60_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-by-location-withtext.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x324_crop_center-center_60_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-by-location-withtext.jpg 576w)
Here are some alternative unlabeled versions:
![The Solar System's Major Moons (sorted by location)](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_2400x1350_crop_center-center_82_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-by-location.jpg 2400w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x675_crop_center-center_82_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-by-location.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x432_crop_center-center_60_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-by-location.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x324_crop_center-center_60_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-by-location.jpg 576w)
![The Solar System's Major Moons (scattered)](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_2400x1350_crop_center-center_82_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-disorganized.jpg 2400w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x675_crop_center-center_82_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-disorganized.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x432_crop_center-center_60_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-disorganized.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x324_crop_center-center_60_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-disorganized.jpg 576w)
For the next one, I used a different Iapetus image, because it's adjacent to the Uranian moons Oberon and Ariel for which we don't have good lower-phase (fuller) global views; putting in the higher-phase one I used above made it look too big. Ganymede looks a little small for the same reason, and also because Titan's atmosphere makes it look bigger than it actually is.
![The Solar System's Major Moons (ordered by size)](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_2400x1350_crop_center-center_82_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-by-size.jpg 2400w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x675_crop_center-center_82_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-by-size.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x432_crop_center-center_60_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-by-size.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x324_crop_center-center_60_line/20130619_solar-system-major-moons-by-size.jpg 576w)
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