Natural Moons in the Solar System: Which Planet Has How Many Moons?

There are more than 200 known moons in our Solar System. Satellites can come in many different sizes and shapes. Although most have not atmosphere, a small fraction of them has atmosphere and even oceans. Water samples found on the moons Europa, Titan and Enceladus have revived the possibility of life on these moons.^[1]

Some of these moons are temporary moons. Temporary moons are celestial bodies that enter the orbit of the planet later and leave the orbit after a certain time and continue to move on their own route.^[1]

Planets Without Moons

Some planets have not moons. For example, Mercury and Venus have not known moons.^[2]

Earth’s Moon

It is thought that the Moon, the only satellite of the Earth, may have formed as a result of the collision of an object approximately the size of Mars with the Earth. The Moon is the 5th largest moons in the Solar System.^[3]

Mars's Moons

Mars has two small moons and is among the smallest moons in the Solar System. These are Phobos and the slightly smaller Deimos. Phobos is slowly approaching Mars. In about 50 million years, it could hit the planet, or Mars' gravity could break Phobos apart and form a thin ring around Mars. Phobos has only 1/1000 of Earth's gravitational pull. In other words, a person weighing 68 kilograms on Earth would weigh 68 grams on Phobos.^[4]

Jupiter’s Moons

Jupiter has 79 moons, 26 of which are temporary. The largest of these are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Io is the moon with the most active volcanic surface in the Solar System, and its surface is covered with sulfur. Europa's surface is mostly covered with ice and is thought to have twice as much water as Earth. Therefore, it has the potential to have a habitable zone.^[5]

NASA

Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System and is even larger than a planet, Mercury. It is also the only known moon to generate its own magnetic field. The surface of Callisto is extremely heavily cracked and old. This is a visible source of events in the early history of the Solar System.^[5]

NASA

Saturn’s Moons

Saturn has 82 moons, 29 of which are temporary. One of the most important of these is Titan. Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and the second largest in the Solar System. Titan is the only known moon outside of Earth where all kinds of liquids collect on its surface. Titan's surface temperature is so low that its surface is covered with water ice instead of rock. However, the temperature is sufficient for the methane and ethane to remain liquid.^[6]

Scientists have discovered that not only is liquid methane and ethane on Titan, it also rains from the sky, forming lakes several hundred kilometers wide and hundreds of meters deep. Also, despite Titan's distance from the Sun, there is a spherical subterranean ocean of liquid water beneath the cold surface. But Titan isn't the only satellite of Saturn with a subterranean ocean.^[6]

NASA

Enceladus, another moon of Saturn, has an underground liquid water ocean in the South Pole region.^[6]

NASA

Is It Possible to Have Life on Moons?

The water samples found as a result of research on Europa, Titan and Enceladus excited scientists and revived the possibility of life.^{[5], [6]}

Jupiter and Saturn are outside the habitable zone due to their distance from the Sun, although the existence of underground water oceans has attracted more scientists to research on these moons. Even if a living species is not discovered in the researches, it is thought that it has the potential to create a habitat in that region later on.^{[5], [6]}

Uranus’s Moons

Uranus has 27 moons. Ariel is the brightest and possibly the youngest surfaced moon of all the moons of Uranus. Miranda is the smallest moon of Uranus and its outer surface is curved like no other moon.^[7]

NASA

Neptune’s Moons

Neptune has 14 moons. Triton is the largest of Neptune's moons. One surface of Triton is covered with ice, and at about -240 degrees Celsius, this satellite is one of the coldest bodies in the Solar System. Also, Triton is the only large moon in the Solar System to rotate in the opposite direction of its planet's rotation, suggesting that it may have once been a stand-alone object orbiting Neptune. Neptune's gravity is dragging Triton, causing it to move closer and closer to the planet. In millions of years, Triton will come so close to the planet that gravitational forces will tear it apart.^[8]

Dwarf Planets’s Moons

Pluto, a dwarf planet, has 5 moons. The largest of these moons, Charon, is half the size of Pluto.^[9]

Agora Bilim Pazarı

Tepeden Kuyruğa - Deniz Canlıları

Yelken balığının yüzgecinden mavi balinanın ağzına, deniz canlılarının akıllara durgunluk veren özellikleri var. Peki bunları eğlenceli bir oyun eşliğinde öğrenmeye ne dersin? Önce deniz canlısının vücudundan bir bölümün büyütülmüş resmini göreceksin. Bunun hangi canlıya ait olduğunu tahmin etmek ise senin görevin. Tahminini yap ve hemen sayfayı çevir: Deniz canlısının ismi, tam boy resmi ve hakkında bir sürü şahane bilgi orada seni bekliyor. İlginç bilgileri, kâğıt kesme tekniğiyle yapılmış göz alıcı çizimler ve eğlenceli bir oyunla birleştiren Tepeden Kuyruğa Deniz Canlıları, minik deniz biyologlarını engin suların derinliklerine çağırıyor.

Stacey Roderick’in kaleme aldığı, Kwanchai Moriya’nın çizimleriyle eşlik ettiği Tepeden Kuyruğa serisinin diğer üç kitabı Böcekler, Kuşlar ve Dinozorlar da meraklı okurlarını bekliyor.

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Satın Al Tüm Ürünler

NASA

Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System, has a very small moon called Dysnomia.^[10]

Haumea is the fastest spinning dwarf planet in our Solar System. It has two moons, Namaka and Hi'iaka.^[11]

Makemake is the second brightest object in the Kuiper Belt and has a temporary moon called MK2. The dwarf planets Pluto, Eris, and Haumea are also located in the Kuiper Belt outside of Neptune's orbit.^[12]

Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and the only dwarf planet in the inner Solar System, has not known moon.^[13]