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At the IAU General Assembly in July 2004, [2] the WGPSN suggested it may become advisable to not name small satellites, as CCD technology makes it possible to discover satellites as small as 1 km in diameter. Until 2014, names were applied to all planetary moons discovered, regardless of size. From 2015, some small moons have not received names.
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]
Planetary Names: Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers "Upper size limit for moons explained" Kelly Young. Nature (vol 441, p. 834) 14 June 2006; Images of planets and major moons (not to scale) The Planetary Society – Moon Montage(s) Album of moon images by Kevin M. Gill; The Atlas of Moons by the National Geographic Society
Pages in category "Satellites orbiting the Moon" The following 19 pages are in this category, out of 19 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. A.
Duplication of the same surface feature name on two or more bodies, and of the same name for satellites and minor planets, is discouraged. Duplications may be allowed when names are especially appropriate and the chances for confusion are very small. Individual names chosen for each body should be expressed in the language of origin.
The English proper name for Earth's natural satellite is typically written as Moon, with a capital M. [19] [20] The noun moon is derived from Old English mōna, which stems from Proto-Germanic *mēnōn, [21] which in turn comes from Proto-Indo-European *mēnsis 'month' [22] (from earlier *mēnōt, genitive *mēneses) which may be related to the verb 'measure' (of time).
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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.