Which planet has the most moons
Just the other day, my mother told me: she comes into the room in the evening, sees me (I was only five or six years old) looking out the window and crying. When asked what upset me, I replied: “I feel sorry for the Moon, but the Earth has only one.” The next day, my mother opened the book to a page about a planet that had there were satellites more than everyone else- so as not to reassure the daughter later.
Planet with the most satellites
If we talk about the solar system, then the undisputed leader is Jupiter. Him as many as 69 satellites- that's for sure who is not lonely without the company. Moreover, these are only those that were found - it is assumed that in practice themabout a hundred.
It was thanks to them that Jupiter acquired its unusual striped coloration.
Galilean satellites
The earliest moons of Jupiter were discovered by Galileo. Of course, his telescope was not very powerful, and therefore he saw only four the biggest Jupiter moons:
Names for them came up Simon Mari. His first notes were actually dated before Galileo, but the scientist did fatal mistake- delayed with the publication. Marius tried for a very long time to prove that it was he who discovered the satellites first. He did not succeed, but, as a consolation prize, he received opportunity to name them as he pleases.
And he chose names from mythology for the name - in honor of the beloved god Jupiter. The idea was not bad, but even a loving god clearly did not have so many love attachments.
Jupiter - the thief of satellites
Some moons of Jupiter rotate in the opposite direction. It is believed that they were common space bodies, moved for themselves and did not touch anyone, only got into their misfortune in the gravitational field of the gas giant - and now they have to spin around it.
But since revolving around the invader, then do it in defiance of everyone. Such a movement is called retrograde. They are quite easy to recognize by their names. The rule is: if the name ends with the letter “e”, then the satellite is moving in the opposite direction.
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Since childhood, I loved astronomy, which is why I studied this science well. Jupiter was my favorite planet. Jupiter -the most big planet solar system, this gas giant is the fifth in distance from the Sun, and has a large number of satellites.
Jupiter - the owner of the largest number of satellites
Since ancient times, Jupiter was known to our ancestors, they composed many legends about this planet and called it the names of their deities. Modern name the planet is named after a Roman deity - Thunderer Jupiter. On Earth, Jupiter can be seen with the naked eye. and it's not strange, because The planet is second only to the Sun in mass.. Some scientists believe that if Jupiter were a little bigger, it would turn into another Sun in our system. Since the planet does not have a solid surface and liquid water, it is believed that life on it is impossible, but scientists suggest the existence of life in the upper layers of its atmosphere.
Major moons of Jupiter
Jupiter andhas at least sixty seven satellites, but there are probably many more, the number of satellites may exceed a hundred. Ironically, the moons were given the names of deities associated in some way with the divine Jupiter. The most famous moons of Jupiter:
- Europa is a moon of Jupiterhas an ocean And where there is water, life is not ruled out. Also in the waters of the ocean of Europe there is a huge amount of oxygen, and this, in turn, makes it possible for the emergence of not only single-celled, but also more complex life forms;
- And about - volcanic planet, which is covered with great volcanoes and products of their eruption;
- Ganymede -the largest satellite in the entire solar system. Covered with deep craters that indicate frequent falls meteor showers;
- Callisto- a planet that It has ocean water , as on Europa, the existence of life is possible on Callisto.
These four satellites rotate synchronously around Jupiter and always face it on the same side.
Minor moons of Jupiter
The remaining satellites often have an irregular shape and are rocky bodies. One of the most interesting small satellites - Amalthea. Amalthea was once a whole body, but due to a meteorite bombardment, it fell apart into parts that, under the influence of gravity, connected, but never became a single whole.
It is assumed that the giant Jupiter once had many more satellites, but due to the strong gravity of the planet, they fell to its surface.
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AT school years I really liked astronomy. Observations of the stars, diaries of observations - there was a special romance in this, which not everyone understands. The telescope was my cherished dream. And when they gave it to me, at first I began to examine the planets. And my first object was not Saturn, with its rings. It was Jupiter, because of the galaxy of satellites.
How many moons does Jupiter have
On the this moment known about 79 satellites: from dwarfs with a diameter of several kilometers to almost full-fledged planets. In addition, Jupiter has its own ring system. In addition, the number 79 is most likely not final. New satellites are being discovered to this day, the last one became known this year, 2018.
All these objects simply cannot be listed, most of them have alphanumeric names. But it is worth mentioning the most basic ones discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. These include:
- Europe;
- Ganymede;
- Calisto.
Their names were given by Simon Marius, another great scientist. They are taken from ancient Greek myths. These satellites can be attributed to the most unusual. So, Europe is completely covered with ice, under which there is an ocean. Scientists even admit the presence of life in it. And Io is the owner of the largest active volcano in the solar system.
Why does Jupiter have so many moons
The number of Jupiter's moons can be attributed to the fact that it is the largest object in our native solar system, after the Sun itself. Therefore, in the past, it easily captured small planets flying in similar orbits into its gravitational field. He also captured various dust, fragments, asteroids, which served as the foundation for the formation of some satellites already in orbit around the giant.
How many moons do other planets have
Do not forget that other planets also have beads of objects rotating around them. So, Saturn has 62 of them, Uranus has 27, Neptune has 14. Nearby is the dwarf Pluto, which has as many as five satellites.
So it turns out that our solar system is amazing and unique. Sometimes, to see miracles, just look at the sky.
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In the summer of 2011, I watched with excitement the launch of the Juno interplanetary station to explore Jupiter. She was supposed to fly to the planet that has the most satellites in the solar system. The robot station did it. On solar batteries, she transmitted such an amount of data that scientists would be busy deciphering for several years.
How many moons does Jupiter have
It is almost 2.5 times larger than all the planets in the solar system together. This huge mass compared to the Sun even shifts the center of gravity beyond its limits. Such a colossal size and weight of the planet determine the huge number of satellites and the presence of dust rings.
In the 17th century, Galileo saw large satellites through a telescope:
- Europe;
- Ganymede;
- Callisto.
By the seventies of the 19th century, 9 more satellites were discovered.
The Voyager 1 spacecraft, following Jupiter past Saturn, recorded the presence of three new satellites in 1979. Later, 51 satellites were discovered thanks to new types of telescopes.
Presumably Jupiter has at least 100 "moons", the study of which continues.
The largest
Io - the closest satellite to Jupiter - is affected by the gravitational forces of both the planet and Ganymede with Europa, which leads to heating of the body, deformation and active volcanic activity. Io's motion causes the strongest thunderstorms on Jupiter.
Europa is covered in water that is thought to harbor life. The temperature on the surface is below zero by 150-220 degrees Celsius - a "crystal" satellite with a metal core and a stone mantle. There is oxygen in the atmosphere.
Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system. It is larger than Mercury. The surface is covered with ice and dotted with numerous craters, and oxygen has been found in the atmosphere.
Callisto is composed of water and rocks and is the body with the oldest surface. It is the site of a planned space base for Europa exploration.
Internal and external
In inner orbit to Io are:
- Metis;
- Amalthea;
- Adrastea;
- Thebe.
59 external satellites were recorded. Those close to Jupiter rotate with it in one direction, the rest - in the opposite direction.
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Moon
(Moon) Average radius: 1737.10 km. Rotation period: turned to the Earth on one side.
The Moon is the Earth's only natural satellite. The second brightest object in the earth's sky after the Sun and the fifth largest natural satellite of the planets of the solar system. It is also the first and only celestial body, besides the Earth, which has been visited by man. The average distance between the centers of the Earth and the Moon is 384,467 km (0.00257 AU).
Apparent magnitude full moon in the earthly sky -12.7”.
The geological structure of the Moon is similar to that of the Earth. It also has a crust, upper mantle, middle mantle, lower mantle (asthenosphere), and core. The surface of our satellite is covered with the so-called regolith - a mixture of rocky debris and fine dust, which were formed as a result of collisions of meteorites with the surface of the satellite. During the day, the surface of the Moon heats up to +120 °C, and at night or even in the shade it cools down to -160 °C. Scientists have recorded seismic processes on the moon caused by the influence of the Earth.
In July 2008, American geologists found traces of water in the Moon's soil samples, which were released in large quantities from the bowels of the satellite in the early stages of its existence. Later most of this water evaporated into space. These results were also confirmed by Russian and Indian scientists.
The atmosphere on the Moon is practically non-existent. Therefore, the sky on it is always black, even during the day. The disk of the Earth looks from the Moon 3.7 times larger than the Moon from the Earth and "hangs in the sky" almost motionless. The phases of the Earth as seen from the Moon are directly opposite. moon phases on the ground.
Deimos
(Deimos) Diameter: 12.4 km. Rotation period: turned to Mars on one side.
Deimos is the outer moon of Mars, long thought to be the smallest moon in the solar system. He, like the Moon, revolves around Mars, turning to him with the same side. The dimensions of the satellite are extremely small by astronomical standards - only about 15 km in diameter.
Deimos consists of stony rocks covered with regolith - a detrital-dust layer, up to several tens of meters thick. It consists of minerals, glass, lithified breccias, fragments of meteorites. The surface of Deimos looks rather smooth due to the fact that many of the craters are covered with fine-grained material.
The satellite has only two geological objects with proper names. These are the craters Swift and Voltaire, named after the writers Jonathan Swift and Voltaire, who predicted the existence of two satellites of Mars before their discovery.
Johannes Kepler spoke about the existence of two satellites on Mars in 1610. He believed that if the Earth has one satellite, and Jupiter has 4, then the number of satellites increases exponentially. Therefore, Mars must have 2 satellites.
The honor of discovering the satellites of Mars belongs to the American astronomer Asaph Hall. After a series of observations at the Naval Observatory in Washington, he recorded the presence of two satellites and the parameters of their orbits. The official date for this discovery is August 12, 1877.
Phobos
(Phobos) Diameter: 22.2 km. Rotation period: turned to Mars on one side.
Phobos is an internal satellite of Mars, like the Moon, revolving around Mars, turning to it with the same side. The dimensions of the satellite are extremely small by astronomical standards - only about 22 km in diameter. Phobos makes one revolution around Mars in 7 hours 39 minutes 14 seconds, which is faster than the rotation of Mars around its own axis. Therefore, in the Martian sky, Phobos rises in the west and sets in the east. The gravitational forces of interaction with Mars gradually slow down the movement of Phobos, which in 11 million years will lead to its fall to Mars. Every year, Phobos approaches Mars by 9 cm.
The largest crater on Phobos has a diameter of almost 9 km and occupies a significant part of the surface of Phobos. A system of parallel grooves of regular geometric shape up to 30 km long and 100-200 meters wide was found near it. According to one hypothesis, Phobos is an asteroid that became a satellite of Mars about 4.5 billion years ago. In its composition, it is similar to stone meteorites.
The first clear photographs of Phobos were taken by several spacecraft, main goal which was photographing Mars. First, in 1971, Mariner 9 did it, followed by Viking 1 in 1977, Phobos 2 in 1989, Mars Global Surveyor in 1998 and 2003, Mars Express in 2004 and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2007 and 2008 On January 9, 2011, Mars Express approached Phobos by 100 km and took pictures with a resolution of 16 m. At the same time, the first stereoscopic images of the satellite were obtained.
Triton
(Triton) Average radius: 2706.8 km. Orbital period around Neptune: 5.88 days.
Triton is the largest satellite of Neptune and the only large satellite in the solar system moving in the opposite direction relative to the rotation of the planet. Its orbit is strongly inclined to the plane of the planet's equator and to the plane of the ecliptic.
The surface of the satellite reflects sunlight well, because it is covered with methane and nitrogen ice. There are few impact craters on it, which indicates the geological activity of the satellite. In total, only about 40% of Triton's surface has been explored.
Mostly in the western hemisphere of the satellite, a rather large area is occupied by an unusual relief resembling a melon peel, which gave it the name - the melon crust area. Such a surface in the solar system is not found anywhere else. Triton has a rarefied atmosphere and extended clouds have been recorded at an altitude of about 100 km above the surface.
Most of the data on the satellite was obtained using the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which approached it in July and September 1989. At the same time, the radius of the moon was refined and detailed photographs of its surface were obtained.
Triton was discovered by the English astronomer William Lassell in 1846, 17 days after the discovery of the planet itself. He was named after a god sea depths in Greek mythology. However, until the middle of the 20th century, the name “satellite of Neptune” was more common, since the second satellite of Neptune, Nereid, was discovered only in 1949.
Charon
(Charon) Average radius: 1212 km. Period of revolution around Pluto: 6.387 days.
Charon, a moon of Pluto, discovered in 1978, is controversial among scientists. Due to its comparative big size, according to one theory, it is considered a smaller component of the Pluto-Charon binary planetary system.
Probably Pluto and its satellite are significantly different in composition. The planet is covered with nitrogen ice, and Charon is covered with water ice, and its surface has more dark color. It is currently believed that the Pluto-Charon system could have formed as a result of the collision of independently formed Pluto and proto-Charon.
The satellite can detect liquid below the surface. Spectral analysis showed the presence of ammonia hydrates on its surface, which, under the action of solar and cosmic rays, should be transformed in short term into liquid
From February 1985 to October 1990, astronomers observed extremely rare phenomena: alternating eclipses of the Pluto-Charon system. They occur approximately every 124 years. Since the period of Charon's revolution is slightly less than a week, the eclipses were repeated every three days and made it possible to draw up "brightness maps", as well as more accurately estimate the radius of Pluto (1151-1200 km).
Satellite named after character ancient Greek mythology Charon - carrier souls of the dead across the river Styx. Heading towards Pluto and Charon spacecraft mission "New Horizons", which should arrive in orbit dual system in 2015.
Elena is a moon of Saturn
The diversity in size and history of satellites is a real mystery to astronomers. Two of them are larger than the planet Mercury, and eight are larger than Pluto. Our neighbor - the Moon - the fifth largest natural satellite of the planets of the solar system, with a diameter of 3476 kilometers.
Most satellites are thought to have formed from a disk of debris that formed during the formation of the planet they orbit. However, Triton, the largest satellite of Neptune, and several of smallest satellites(including those on Mars) may have formed elsewhere in the solar system. Our Moon probably formed from debris from a Mars-sized object that collided with the early Earth - perhaps the most unique event in the history of the solar system.
planetary satellites
Earth- Moon
Mars— Phobos and Deimos
Jupiter- Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto (about 63 satellites in total, as of 2005)
Saturn- Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Helen and Iapetus (62 satellites in total, not counting hundreds of large fragments in the planet's rings)
Uranus- Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon (27 satellites in total)
Neptune- Triton, Proteus, Nereid, Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Larissa and Galatea (13 satellites in total)
While most of the planets are named after Roman heroes (with the exception of Pluto and Uranus), most of the names of the moons come from Greek mythology. For example, Phobos and Deimos are the sons of Ares (the Greek version of Mars). All satellites of Jupiter are named after the favorites and other relatives of Zeus (Jupiter). The moons of Saturn are named after the Titans - Kronos (Saturn), the father of Zeus. The moons of Neptune are named after the mythological heroes associated with water, and Charon was the carrier of the dead, who delivered people to the realm of Pluto.
In accordance with tradition, the discoverer of the satellites could name them himself (now this is possible if approved by the International Astronomical Union). Sir William Herschel decided to name the moons of Uranus not after the names of the heroes of myths, but after the fairies of the king and queen from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This marked the beginning of a tradition by which some of the satellites of the planets are named after the names of the magical heroes of English works.
Of all the satellites of the solar system, some of the most unusual can be distinguished. They all have some interesting features, which will be discussed below.
Ganymede is the largest moon
Jupiter's moon Ganymede itself is very similar to the Moon, but it is much larger and is the largest satellite of the entire solar system. Another feature is the presence magnetic poles. Ganymede is slightly larger than Mercury and slightly smaller than Mars, and could be mistaken for a planet if it also revolved around the Sun.
Ganymede
Miranda is not the most attractive companion
Satellites of Uranus are not distinguished by presentability. Out of all these satellites, a satellite called Miranda stands out very much. It has a nice name, but appearance not really. However, if we take a closer look at the surface of Miranda, it reveals the most diverse landscape in the solar system: giant ridges alternate with deep plains, and some canyons are 12 times deeper than the famous Grand Canyon!
Miranda
Callisto - crater champion
Jupiter's moon Calisto immediately appears to be a dead planet that has no signs of life. A lot of meteorites fell on this satellite and, accordingly, all of them left traces behind them, which are now presented in the form of craters on the satellite. This is the main distinctive feature Calisto. It has the largest number of craters of all the planets and satellites of the solar system.
Callisto (bottom and left), Jupiter (top and right) and Europa (below and left of the Great Red Spot)
Dactyl is a satellite of an asteroid
Dactyl is a satellite, the main distinguishing feature of which is that it is the smallest of all the satellites of the solar system. It is only 1.6 km long, but it orbits an asteroid. Dactyl is a satellite of Ida. According to ancient Greek myth, Ida was a mountain in which tiny creatures lived - dactyls.
Asteroid Ida and its moon Dactyl
Epimetheus and Janus - the eternal race
The two satellites of Saturn in the distant past were one, but after the split they began to move in almost the same orbit, changing places every four years and miraculously avoiding a collision.
Epimetheus and Janus
Enceladus the ring bearer
Enceladus is one of the largest moons of Saturn. Almost all sunlight falls on it and is reflected, as a result of which it is considered the most reflective object in the solar system. Enceladus has geysers that eject water vapor and dust into outer space. Scientists believe that it was because of the volcanic activity of its satellite that Saturn acquired the E ring, through which the orbit of Enceladus lies.
E Ring and Enceladus
Triton - satellite with unique volcanoes
Triton is the largest moon of Neptune. This satellite differs from others in that it revolves around the planet in the opposite direction to its rotation around the Sun. Triton has a large number of volcanoes that do not throw out lava, water and ammonia, which instantly freeze after that.
Triton
Europe - satellite-ocean
Europa is the moon of Jupiter, which has the most flat surface. This feature is due to the fact that Europe is all covered by the ocean, and on its surface there is a thin layer of ice. Under the ice there is a huge amount of liquid - several times more than on Earth. Some researchers who are studying this satellite have come to the conclusion that there may be life in the ocean of Europa.
Europe
Io - volcanic hell
Jupiter's moon Io is constantly volcanic. This is due to the very nature of the planet Jupiter, as a result of which the bowels of the satellite are subject to heating. There are more than 400 volcanoes on the surface, and volcanic formation is continuous, they can be easily seen flying by. But for the same reason, craters are practically invisible on the surface of Io, since they are filled with lava that erupts from volcanoes.
Titan is the best candidate for colonization
Saturn's moon Titan is the most unpredictable and unique moon. It has long been proven that it has a denser atmosphere than on Earth. It contains nitrogen, methane and other gases. Long time it was not known what was hidden under these thick clouds of the satellite, and only after the apparatus took pictures, it became clear that there were rivers and lakes of a metonic and titanium nature. It is assumed that Titan also has underground water bodies, which, coupled with low gravity, makes it the best candidate for colonization by Earthlings.
Titan's upper atmosphere and South Pole Saturn