Callisto Full Face
Explanation:
Callisto's surface shows its age. While probably
formed at the same time as
Io, the
difference between the surfaces of these two moons of
Jupiter
could hardly be greater.
Io's
surface is young, shows practically no impact craters, and is
continually being repaved by the
lava
exploding from its many
large volcanoes.
Callisto's
surface is old, shows the highest density of impact craters in
the
Solar System, and harbors no
volcanoes or even any large mountains.
Callisto's
surface is one large ice-field, laced with cracks and craters
from billions of years of collisions with interplanetary debris.
The high-resolution vertical band in the
above mosaic
was taken by the robot
spacecraft Galileo
currently orbiting
Jupiter. The
rest of the mosaic was compiled from pictures taken by the
Voyager spacecraft
which passed the
Callisto
in 1979.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
