Image Title: Jupiter's Main Ring and Inner Satellites Target Name: J Rings Is a satellite of: Jupiter Mission: Galileo Spacecraft: Galileo Orbiter Instrument: Solid State Imaging Produced By: Cornell University Creation Date: 1998-09-15 Primary Data Set: Galileo EDRs Full-Res JPEG: R01_jupsats2_full.jpg (178 kbytes)

Original Caption Released with Image:

The orbital paths of Jupiter's innermost satellites are shown relative to the size of Jupiter. Io, one of Jupiter's larger moons, was discovered by Galileo in the 17th century and has been the object of detailed imaging by NASA's Voyager and Galileo spacecraft. All the small inner satellites, Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, and Thebe, are associated with components of Jupiter's rings, but for clarity, only the main ring is shown in this image. The main ring shows a marked decrease in brightness near the orbit of Jupiter's innermost moon, Metis. Adrastea orbits at the outer edge of the main ring. Metis' orbit is only about 1,000 kilometers (about 600 miles) closer to Jupiter than Adrastea's, but the separation is not distinguishable within the resolution of this drawing. Amalthea and Thebe lie at outer edges of the two components of the gossamer ring. The rings are formed by debris knocked off the small, low-gravity satellites, by impacts of small meteoroids, which are fragments of asteroids and comets.

The Jupiter image was created from a map based on data obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo.

Image Note:

Side View of System

This page is not a Planetary PhotoJournal release, but is an illustration provided by the Galileo imaging (SSI) team as further background for other releases of imaging data.

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Galileo Solid State Imaging Team Leader: Dr. Michael J. S. Belton

The SSI Education and Public Outreach webpages were originally created and managed by Matthew Fishburn and Elizabeth Alvarez with significant assistance from Kelly Bender, Ross Beyer, Detrick Branston, Stephanie Lyons, Eileen Ryan, and Nalin Samarasinha.

Last updated: September 17, 1999, by Matthew Fishburn

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