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In contrast, the Lunar distance (LD or ), or Earth–Moon characteristic distance, is a unit of measure in astronomy. More technically, it is the semi-major axis of the geocentric lunar orbit . The lunar distance is on average approximately 385,000 km (239,000 mi), or 1.28 light-seconds ; this is roughly 30 times Earth's diameter .
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite, orbiting at an average distance of 384 399 km (238,854 mi; 30 Earths across).It faces Earth always with the same side.This is a result of Earth's gravitational pull having synchronized the Moon's rotation period with its orbital period (lunar month) of 29.5 Earth days.
Its diameter is eleven times that of Earth, and a tenth that of the Sun. Jupiter orbits the Sun at a distance of 5.20 AU (778.5 Gm), with an orbital period of 11.86 years. It is the third-brightest natural object in the Earth's night sky , after the Moon and Venus , and has been observed since prehistoric times .
Ganymede orbits Jupiter at a distance of 1,070,400 kilometres (665,100 mi), third among the Galilean satellites, [26] and completes a revolution every seven days and three hours (7.155 days [39]). Like most known moons, Ganymede is tidally locked, with one side always facing toward the planet, hence its day is also seven days and three hours. [40]
Cyllene is about 2 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of (23.4 million km) 23,396,000 km in 731.099 days (2.00 earth years), at an inclination of 140.149° to the ecliptic (139.543° to Jupiter's equator), in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.4116.
A montage of Jupiter and its four largest moons (distance and sizes not to scale) There are 95 moons of Jupiter with confirmed orbits as of 5 February 2024. [1] [note 1] This number does not include a number of meter-sized moonlets thought to be shed from the inner moons, nor hundreds of possible kilometer-sized outer irregular moons that were only briefly captured by telescopes. [4]
On average, the distance to the Moon is about 384,400 km (238,900 mi) from Earth's centre, which corresponds to about 60 Earth radii or 1.28 light-seconds. Earth and the Moon orbit about their barycentre (common centre of mass ), which lies about 4,670 km (2,900 miles) from Earth's centre (about 73% of its radius), forming a satellite system ...
The tidal forces are about 1,000 times stronger than the Moon's effect on Earth. The only other moon in the Solar System exhibiting water vapor plumes is Enceladus. [22] The estimated eruption rate at Europa is about 7000 kg/s [120] compared to about 200 kg/s for the plumes of Enceladus.