Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Its eight regular moons are grouped into the planet-sized Galilean moons and the far smaller Amalthea group. They were named after lovers of Zeus, the Greek equivalent of Jupiter. Among them is Ganymede, the largest and most massive moon in the Solar System. Its 87 known irregular moons are organized into two categories: prograde and retrograde.
The Roman numbering system for satellites arose with the very first discovery of natural satellites other than Earth's Moon: Galileo referred to the Galilean moons as I through IV (counting from Jupiter outward), refusing to adopt the names proposed by his rival Simon Marius. Similar numbering schemes naturally arose with the discovery of ...
Moons of the Solar System (The Planetary Society, as of March 2009) The JPL's Solar System Dynamics page "How Many Solar System Bodies". NASA/JPL Solar System Dynamics; Planetary Names: Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers "Upper size limit for moons explained" Kelly Young. Nature (vol 441, p. 834) 14 June 2006
There are 293 confirmed moons in our cosmic neighborhood. By studying these worlds, astronomers hope to learn about ancient asteroid collisions, space volcanoes, and the origins of life itself.
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
For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us
They are planetary-mass moons and among the largest objects in the Solar System. All four, along with Titan, Triton, and Earth's Moon, are larger than any of the Solar System's dwarf planets. The largest, Ganymede, is the largest moon in the Solar System and surpasses the planet Mercury in size (though not mass). Callisto is only slightly ...
Astronomers have discovered three previously unknown moons around Uranus and Neptune, the most distant planets in our solar system. The find includes one moon spotted orbiting Uranus — the first ...