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Of the Solar System's eight planets and its nine most likely dwarf planets, six planets and seven dwarf planets are known to be orbited by at least 300 natural satellites, or moons. At least 19 of them are large enough to be gravitationally rounded; of these, all are covered by a crust of ice except for Earth's Moon and Jupiter's Io . [ 1 ]
The listed objects currently include most objects in the asteroid belt and moons of the giant planets in this size range, but many newly discovered objects in the outer Solar System are missing, such as those included in the following reference. [58] Asteroid spectral types are mostly Tholen, but some might be SMASS.
With a diameter of about 5,270 kilometres (3,270 mi) and a mass of 1.48 × 10 20 tonnes (1.48 × 10 23 kg; 3.26 × 10 23 lb), Ganymede is the largest and most massive moon in the Solar System. [45] It is slightly more massive than the second most massive moon, Saturn's satellite Titan, and is more than
Jupiter has surpassed Saturn with the record for the planet with the most moons in our solar system. The gas giant has a total of 92 confirmed moons, according to new observations by astronomers.
Three moons are particularly notable. Titan is the second-largest moon in the Solar System (after Jupiter's Ganymede), with a nitrogen-rich Earth-like atmosphere and a landscape featuring river networks and hydrocarbon lakes. [6] Enceladus emits jets of ice from its south-polar region and is covered in a deep layer of snow. [7]
Most of the major natural satellites of the Solar System have regular orbits, while most of the small natural satellites have irregular orbits. [15] The Moon and the Moons of Pluto are exceptions among large bodies in that they are thought to have originated from the collision of two large protoplanetary objects early in the Solar System's ...
In an almost poetic twist, the moon is also the most reflective body in the solar system—reflecting almost 100 percent of the light that reaches it. It is a beacon in more ways than one. 4.
Saturn now has 117 confirmed moons, the most of any planet in the Solar System. Take that, Jupiter!