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The prograde satellites consist of the Himalia group and three others in groups of one. The retrograde moons are grouped into the Carme, Ananke and Pasiphae groups. Saturn has 146 moons with known orbits; 66 of them have received permanent designations, and 63 have been named. Most of them are quite small.
Nineteen moons are large enough to be round, several having subsurface oceans and one, Titan, having a considerable atmosphere. The Moon is by size and mass the fifth largest natural satellite of the Solar System, categorizable as one of its planetary-mass moons, making it a satellite planet under the geophysical definitions of the term. [17]
In the Solar System, all planets, comets, and asteroids are in such orbits, as are many artificial satellites and pieces of space debris. Moons by contrast are not in a heliocentric orbit but rather orbit their parent object. Geocentric orbit: An orbit around the planet Earth, such as that of the Moon or of artificial satellites.
The term satellite thus became the normal one for referring to an object orbiting a planet, as it avoided the ambiguity of "moon". In 1957, however, the launching of the artificial object Sputnik created a need for new terminology. [5] The terms man-made satellite and artificial moon were very quickly abandoned in favor of the simpler satellite ...
One regular moon, Titan, hosts a dense atmosphere dominated by nitrogen as well as stable hydrocarbon lakes on its surface. The complex interactions between Titan's thick, hazy atmosphere, its surface, and its 'hydrocarbon cycle' have led to the creation of many unusual features, including canyons and floodplains eroded by rivers, possible ...
The Moon is the largest natural satellite of and the closest major astronomical object to Earth. The Moon may be observed by using a variety of optical instruments, ranging from the naked eye to large telescopes. The Moon is the only celestial body upon which surface features can be discerned with the unaided eyes of most people.
Some halo orbits remain over particular regions of the lunar surface. These can be used by lunar relay satellites to communicate with surface stations on the far side of the Moon. The first to do this was the 2019 Queqiao relay satellite. It was placed around Earth-Moon L2 at roughly 65,000 km (40,000 mi). [citation needed]
The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object is listed in chronological order of its discovery (multiple dates occur when the moments of imaging, observation, and publication differ), identified through its various designations (including temporary and permanent schemes), and the ...