This article is about the moons of planets and dwarf planets in the Solar System. For other asteroid or minor-planet moons, see Minor-planet moon.
Of the Solar System's eight planets and its eight most likely dwarf planets, six planets and six dwarf planets are known to be orbited by at least 299 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] Several of the largest ones are in hydrostatic equilibrium and would therefore be considered dwarf planets or planets if they were in direct orbit around the Sun and not in their current states (orbiting planets or dwarf planets).
Moons are classed into two separate categories according to their orbits: regular moons, which have prograde orbits (they orbit in the direction of their planets' rotation) and lie close to the plane of their equators, and irregular moons, whose orbits can be pro- or retrograde (against the direction of their planets' rotation) and often lie at extreme angles to their planets' equators. Irregular moons are probably minor planets that have been captured from surrounding space. Most irregular moons are less than 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) in diameter.
The earliest published discovery of a moon other than Earth's was by Galileo Galilei, who discovered the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610. Over the following three centuries, only a few more moons were discovered. Missions to other planets in the 1970s, most notably the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, saw a surge in the number of moons detected, and observations since the year 2000, using mostly large, ground-based optical telescopes, have discovered many more, all of which are irregular.
^Ice in the Solar System – NASA
and 17 Related for: List of natural satellites information
least 299 naturalsatellites, 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...
System Nomenclature granted names to satellites V–XIII, and provided for a formal naming process for future satellites still to be discovered. The practice...
irregular satellites, the general convention is to use names ending in "a" for prograde satellites, names ending in "e" for retrograde satellites, and names...
(or sometimes another naturalsatellite). Naturalsatellites are colloquially referred to as moons, a derivation from the Moon of Earth. In the Solar System...
ofnaturalsatellites is the potential of moons to provide habitats for life, though it is not an indicator that they harbor it. Naturalsatellites are...
epoch of 1 January 2020. Listofnaturalsatellites The mass of Triton is about 2.14 × 1022 kg, whereas the combined mass of the Uranian moons is about...
moons up to and including Rhea may be only 100 million years old. Listofnaturalsatellites 62 moons were announced 3–16 May, 2023: S/2020 S 1, S/2006 S 9...
The dwarf planet Pluto has five naturalsatellites. In order of distance from Pluto, they are Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. Charon, the largest...
the satellites Phobos and Deimos reside. No new satellites were found to an apparent limiting red magnitude of 23.5, which corresponds to radii of about...
planets, their satellites, trojan asteroids and some minor planets Jupiter Rings of Jupiter Complete listof Jupiter's naturalsatellites Io Europa Ganymede...
The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their naturalsatellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object...
Claims of the existence of other moons of Earth—that is, of one or more naturalsatellites with relatively stable orbits of Earth, other than the Moon—have...
observation satellites are Earth-orbiting spacecraft with sensors used to collect imagery and measurements of the surface of the earth. These satellites are used...
of naturalsatellites (moons) Lists of small Solar System bodies Lists of comets Listof meteor showers Minor planets Listof minor planets Listof exceptional...
also designated Saturn I, is the seventh-largest naturalsatelliteof Saturn. With a mean diameter of 396.4 kilometres or 246.3 miles, Mimas is the smallest...
atoms and molecules near the base. Mercury, Ceres and several large naturalsatellites, such as the Moon, Europa, and Ganymede, have exospheres without a...
planet, unlike regular satellites, which formed in orbit around them. Irregular moons have a stable orbit, unlike temporary satellites which often have similarly...
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