Planets other than Earth also have moons of their own
Moons are nothing but the natural satellites of all the planets in the solar system. While planets revolve around the sun, moons revolve around the planets. There are more than 200 moons in our solar system that the astronomical community know about. However, there might be many more that still haven’t been discovered. All the planets, except Mercury and Venus, have moons. While our earth has a solitary moon orbiting it, the larger planets like Jupiter and Saturn have more than one moon. In fact, dwarf planets like Pluto (5 moons) or the asteroids moving in the space are also reported to have small-sized moons of their own.
Believe it or not, moons have universes of their own. They may have different shapes and sizes, with each having unique characteristics. As a matter of fact, scientists have even found certain moons having atmospheres and hidden oceans beneath their surfaces. Here’s everything else you need to know about moons.
What are moons made up of?
Moons are made up of gases and dust particles that circulated in the solar system even before the planets were discovered. There are also others that were formed somewhere else and later crossed paths with their respective planets and started orbiting them. These are often called ‘captured’ moons.
Luna, Earth’s only satellite
Luna, also called the Moon, is the only natural satellite of our home planet. It is also the fifth largest moon in the entire solar system. For a long span of time, Moon was the only place beyond earth where mankind has set foot. Moon is the largest and brightest presence in our night sky and it helps stabilize earth’s axial wobble while ensuring that our climatic conditions remain stable. Moon has a stuffy atmosphere of its own, called the exosphere and its rocky surface was born out of fragments from comets, meteoroids and asteroids that collided with earth at different intervals. It is 240000 miles away from the earth. The earth and the moon are tidally interconnected, so much so that their rotations and completely synchronized. The moon has no moons of its own, no rings and no liquid water which is why it cannot support life.
Mars has two moons
The red planet has two natural satellites namely, Phobos, the bigger moon and Deimos, the smaller moon, both of which were found in 1877 by Asaph Hall. The former has a grooved surface and often has frictions with giant-sized craters as well as Mars itself. It orbits Mars thrice a day and often tries to overshadow it. In fact, scientists predict that Phobos has a high chance of crashing with Mars or get broken up into rings. The latter is named after the Roman God of Dread, and it orbits around Mars every 30 hours. Both of these moons lack atmospheres of their own and are the smallest in the solar system.
Jupiter has the largest moon
Jupiter itself is a gigantic sized planet, therefore it is no surprise that it has around 79 moons, 53 named and 26 still on the waiting list to get named. Jupiter has the largest moon in the solar system called Ganymede. It is larger than the size of Mercury. Another moon that has made names for itself is Io. It is known as the highly actively volcanic object in the solar system while Europa, another moon, is known to possess suitable living conditions. Another moon called Callisto is said to be the most heavily cratered object in the solar system.
Saturn has the highest number of moons
Saturn has 82 moons, the most by any planet in the solar system. While 53 of them are confirmed and named, the other 29 moons are awaiting confirmation. The most striking aspect about Saturn’s moons is that its largest moon is larger than Mercury, while the smallest moon is only as large as a stadium. The moons are mostly made up of fragments from Saturn’s own rings as well as its magnetosphere. Saturn’s largest moon is called Titan and is widely known for water cycles along its surface like that of earth. Enceladus, the icy ocean moon may not be notable for its size but is one of the most scientifically fascinating objects in the solar system.
Uranian moons are named after fictional characters
Uranus has 27 moons. While most satellites in the solar system derive their names from mythologies, Uranus’s moons are unique, as their names are taken from fictional characters by Shakespeare and Pope. Take for example, Oberon and Titania, which are the largest Uranian moons found in 1787. The rare feature of these moons is that they are quite small in size and are mostly black in color. The moons that are closer to the planet are also half-ice and half-rock. The shepherd moons like Ophelia and Cordelia keep the ring of Uranus well-defined.
Neptune and its first moon were discovered side by side
The Berlin Observatory discovered and named Neptune in September 23rd, 1846. 17 days later, William Lassell, an English amateur astronomer, discovered its first moon and named it Triton, which was previously thought to be just a floating ring surrounding Neptune. Thereafter, gradually a total of 14 moons were discovered by the researchers. Triton is also unique because it is the only large moon that orbits its planet in a direction opposite to its rotation, which suggests that it was once an independent object.