Jupiter's Moons - How can so many be so stable?

Montage of Jupiter and its four large Galilean moons

Jupiter's three inner Galilean moons keep each other in step. Io, Europa and Ganymede are locked in a 1:2:4 Laplace resonance: Europa's orbital period is twice Io's, and Ganymede's is four times Io's.

via Orbital resonances of the Galilean moons of Jupiter | The Planetary Society

Monday August 1st 2016