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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 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.
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 of them, S/2004 S 24, is also prograde and of similar inclination, but it orbits much further away from Saturn than the other Gallic moons. This moon will nevertheless also receive a name from Gallic mythology. [5] The members of the group are (in order of increasing distance from Saturn according to JPL mean orbital elements): [6]
Where only one satellite is known, or it is a binary with a common centre of gravity, it may be referred to using the hyphenated names of the primary and major satellite (e.g. the "Earth-Moon system"). Many Solar System objects are known to possess satellite systems, though their origin is still unclear.
Informally, satellites are considered irregular if they are far enough from the planet that the precession of their orbital plane is primarily controlled by the Sun, other planets, or other moons. [4] In practice, the satellite's semi-major axis is compared with the radius of the planet's Hill sphere (that is, the sphere of its gravitational ...
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.