Ganymede (moon) has an ionosphere associated with its atmosphere is unresolved. Ganymede's discovery is credited to Galileo Galilei, who was the first to observe it on January 7, 1610. The satellite's name was soon suggested by astronomer Simon Marius, after the mythological Ganymede, cupbearer of the Greek gods, kidnapped by Zeus for the purpose. Beginning with "Pioneer 10", several spacecraft have explored Ganymede. The Voyager probes, "Voyager 1" and "Voyager 2", refined measurements of its size, while "Galileo" discovered its underground ocean and magnetic field. The next planned mission to the Jovian system is the European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer
Orbit of the Moon called the "draconic" or "draconitic month". The line of nodes, the intersection between the two respective planes, has a retrograde motion: for an observer on Earth, it rotates westward along the ecliptic with a period of 18.60 years or 19.3549° per year. When viewed from the celestial north, the nodes move clockwise around Earth, opposite to Earth's own spin and its revolution around the Sun. Lunar and solar eclipses can occur when the nodes align with the Sun, roughly every 173.3 days. Lunar orbit inclination also determines eclipses; shadows cross when nodes coincide with full and new moon when the