Callisto

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/callisto

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How big is Callisto?Potential for a subsurface ocean of liquid saltwater beneath an icy crust
2. What is the orbital body?Jupiter
3. What is the classification?Galilean moon; considered geologically inert with a heavily cratered surface
4. Why does Callisto have so many craters?It has been hit by asteroids and comets for about 4 billion years. Because Callisto has little volcanic or tectonic activity, the craters stay well preserved.
5. Where is Callisto relative to Jupiter?Callisto orbits about 1.88 million kilometers from Jupiter, farther out than the other Galilean moons. This distance keeps it away from strong tidal forces.

Circumplanetary disk: A torus-shaped cloud of gas and dust orbiting a planet, from which moons can form.
Tidal heating: Internal heating of a celestial body caused by the gravitational pull and stretching of a larger body.
Impact cratering: The process by which impactors create depressions on the surface of a celestial body.
Astrobiology: The interdisciplinary scientific study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe.