Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Ancient Cratered Plains on Ganymede

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for July 12, 1996 is “Ancient Cratered Plains on Ganymede,” an image. It is credited to Credit: Galileo Mission Team, Galileo Spacecraft, NASA. The original explanation runs about 119 words.

Ancient Cratered Plains on Ganymede
Credit: Galileo Mission Team, Galileo Spacecraft, NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“The largest moon in the Solar System shows regions that are ancient and battered. The high density of craters demonstrate that patches of Ganymede are indeed billions of years old.”

— APOD editors, July 12, 1996

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
July 12, 1996
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Galileo Mission Team, Galileo Spacecraft, NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 119 words

All of July 1996 → · 1996 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Jupiter

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: July 12 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.