A simplified illustration of the parallax of an object against a distant background due to a perspective shift. When viewed from Viewpoint A, the object appears to be in front of the blue square. When the viewpoint is changed to Viewpoint B, the object appears to have moved in front of the red square.
From top to bottom: Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto. The Galilean moons are the four largest moons of JupiterâIo, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They were discovered by Galileo Galilei around January 1610 and were the first group of objects found to orbit another planet. Their names derive from the lovers of Zeus.
The first claimed observation of one of Jupiter's moons is that of the Chinese astronomer Gan De around 364 BC. However, the first certain observations of Jupiter's satellites were those of Galileo Galilei in 1609. By January 1610, he had sighted the four massive Galilean moons with his 30x magnification telescope, and published his results in March 1610.