Moons · Moon
Ganymede in natural colour from Galileo: dark, old cratered regions and lighter, younger grooved terrain.
Featured palette: Galileo natural-colour view (Sampled from this image)
#917D6B#6D5238#8B735B#AC9784#CCBAA8#50331C#230C04
Credit: USGS, JPL & Caltech.
About Ganymede
Ganymede orbits Jupiter and is the largest moon in the Solar System. Its surface is the top of an ice shell, with flat, settled craters; NASA’s natural-colour view separates dark older regions from lighter, tectonically deformed areas.
| Classification | Moon |
|---|---|
| Parent body | Jupiter |
| Mean radius | 2,631.2 km ± 1.7 kmmean radius · NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics |
| Orbital period | 7.16 daysorbital period around Jupiter · mean elements, epoch 2000-01-01.5 TDB · NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics |
Why these colours?
Dark and light terrain
The Galileo view’s browns and greys follow the older, heavily cratered regions and the younger, lighter areas described in NASA’s caption.
From: Galileo natural-colour view Approximate visible appearance
Colour clusters describe pixels in an image; they cannot identify a mineral, a gas or a physical temperature. Shares of pixels describe the sampled region of the image, not the object’s surface.
Colours from selected views
Palettes sampled from identified images and regions, or calculated from a documented model. These values describe each image or model, not one permanent colour of Ganymede.
Galileo natural-colour view
Sampled from this image · Galileo natural-colour view
#917D6BRGB 145, 125, 107region average#6D5238RGB 109, 82, 5622% of the region#8B735BRGB 139, 115, 9120% of the region#AC9784RGB 172, 151, 13218% of the region#CCBAA8RGB 204, 186, 16817% of the region#50331CRGB 80, 51, 2816% of the region#230C04RGB 35, 12, 46% of the region
See where these colours came from
Global texture (NASA 3D Resources)
Sampled from this image · Global texture (NASA 3D Resources)
#ADADADRGB 173, 173, 173region average#B9B9B9RGB 185, 185, 18529% of the region#D3D3D3RGB 211, 211, 21124% of the region#9F9F9FRGB 159, 159, 15923% of the region#818181RGB 129, 129, 12914% of the region#606060RGB 96, 96, 968% of the region#333333RGB 51, 51, 513% of the region
See where these colours came from
Creative palettes inspired by Ganymede
A design derived from the selected representation. It is not a scientific colour measurement. Each colour keeps the sampled colour it was made from.
Ganymede Grain
Inspired by this object
#40261CRGB 64, 38, 28from #230C04#664730RGB 102, 71, 48from #50331C#886C51RGB 136, 108, 81from #6D5238#AC937ARGB 172, 147, 122from #8B735B#D0BBA7RGB 208, 187, 167from #AC9784#F7E4D2RGB 247, 228, 210from #CCBAA8
Ganymede’s browns and greys spread from dark terrain to bright frost.
Explore the views and the 3D model
Galileo natural-colour viewApproximate visible appearanceGlobal texture (NASA 3D Resources)Enhanced visible colourPick a colour from the image. Click or tap the picture to read a colour. Picked colours are yours, not catalogue samples.
Sphere with a global map A sphere carrying a global map; the shape is a sphere, not a measured shape, and the map’s own coverage gaps are shown as they are. Objects are enlarged or scaled for inspection unless stated otherwise.
Use these colours
Every palette above opens in the palette generator. With JavaScript you can also add colours to your cosmic palette, save them, make a gradient or pattern, preview them in a design or a room (you choose which colour goes on which surface), check digital accessibility and export them. Each colour keeps the view and sample it came from.
Paint matches compare digital swatches for design inspiration. They are not physical equivalents of light from space. Edits create a new design palette. The original representation remains unchanged.
Questions about Ganymede’s colours
Why is Ganymede two-toned?
NASA’s caption describes dark, older, heavily cratered regions and lighter, younger regions that were tectonically deformed. The palette keeps both.
Sources
- 3D Resources — NASA
- Ganymede Color Global — NASA
- Global texture (NASA 3D Resources) — NASA 3D Resources
- Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters — NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics
- Planetary Satellite Mean Elements — NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics
Image credits
- Galileo natural-colour view: NASA/JPL. NASA media (not copyrighted; see the NASA image and media guidelines). Resized for the web from the publisher’s file (sha256 6382510b125173a0490b281a1168f4bbc63d9cbf2fcabcfbb892135bb1b2c093).
- Global texture (NASA 3D Resources): USGS, JPL & Caltech. NASA 3D Resources (free, without copyright; NASA media guidelines). Resized for the web from the publisher’s file (sha256 1aa9d5a6f20e72230c13ce3d78592fc056e22f1e1ee39ea7acfa7e08d09fe173).
Images were resized once for the web; colours were measured from the published files (k-means in OKLab, pcke-oklab-kmeans-1); calculated colours use the CIE 1931 2° observer. Facts last reviewed 25 October 2026. Catalogue pcke-cosmos-2026-10-25, page revision 4eaa340bb67f. No ESA, ESO or NASA endorsement is implied.