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Mercury, the smallest and innermost planet, has no moons, or at least none that can be detected to a diameter of 1.6 km (1.0 mi). [2] For a very short time in 1974, Mercury was thought to have a moon. Venus also has no moons, [3] though reports of a moon around Venus have circulated since the 17th century.
Venus is one of two planets in the Solar System, the other being Mercury, that have no moons. [23] Conditions perhaps favourable for life on Venus have been identified at its cloud layers. Venus may have had liquid surface water early in its history with a habitable environment , [ 24 ] [ 25 ] before a runaway greenhouse effect evaporated any ...
Neith is a hypothetical natural satellite of Venus reportedly sighted by Giovanni Cassini in 1672 and by several other astronomers in following years. It was 'observed' up to 30 times by astronomers until 1770, when there were no new sightings and it was not found during the transit of Venus in 1761 and 1769. [1] [2]
The naming of moons has been the responsibility of the International Astronomical Union's committee for Planetary System Nomenclature since 1973. That committee is known today as the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). Prior to its formation, the names of satellites have had varying histories.
The European Space Agency has officially adopted two new space missions to study Venus from its atmosphere to inner core and to search for gravitational waves.
Of the inner planets, Mercury and Venus have no natural satellites; Earth has one large natural satellite, known as the Moon; and Mars has two tiny natural satellites, Phobos and Deimos. The giant planets have extensive systems of natural satellites, including half a dozen comparable in size to Earth's Moon: the four Galilean moons , Saturn's ...
The names need to meet certain constraints in order to be approved by the International Astronomical Union, which oversees all names for objects in space and features on their surfaces.Jupiter's ...
The scientific names are taken from the names given by the Romans: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Our own planet is usually named in English as Earth , or the equivalent in the language being spoken (for instance, two astronomers speaking French would call it la Terre ).