Awesome Video Shows Jupiter's Moons in Comparison to NYC

How are there so many of them?

Moon Mayhem

Saturn has a lot of moons — 80, to be exact.

And they all vary considerably in size, as demonstrated in an amazing new video shared by MetaBallStudios on YouTube that compares the sizes of all of the gas giant's moons to New York City.

It provides an incredibly concrete sense of scale for Jupiter's natural satellites, which scientists believe formed from a massive disk of gas and solid debris.

 

Galilean Giants

While dozens of the gas giant's moons are pretty tiny — crushing only part of Manhattan, for example — the planet's four Galilean moons are far larger, ranging from a diameter of roughly 2,000 miles in the case of Europa to Ganymede's chonky 3,270 miles.

The origin of these four moons is still shrouded in mystery. Europa in particular has long fascinated scientists, as they believe the tiny satellite is covered in a layer of ice with a massive ocean lurking beneath it. That makes it one of the most tantalizing targets in our search for extraterrestrial life here in the solar system.

While the video only shows animated versions of Jupiter's moons, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope recently got a real-life look, capturing a highly detailed image of the planet alongside Europa.

In 2019, Jupiter's gas giant cousin Saturn overtook Jupiter in becoming the planet with the most moons in the solar system when astronomers found 20 additional moons orbiting it, bringing the total to 82 moons, which is just two more than Jupiter.

Fortunately, we'll get a fresh look at Jupiter's fascinating satellites thanks to NASA's upcoming Europa Clipper mission — and we can't wait to see the results.

More on Jupiter: James Webb Picture of Jupiter So Crisp You Can See Its Moon Europa