Natural satellites are relatively small cosmic bodies that revolve around larger "host" planets. In part, a whole science is devoted to them - planetology.
In the 70s, astronomers assumed that Mercury had several celestial bodies dependent on it, as they caught ultraviolet radiation around it. Later it turned out that the light belonged to a distant star.
Modern equipment makes it possible to study the planet closest to the Sun in more detail. Today, all planetary scientists unanimously repeat that it has no satellites.
Moons of the planet Venus
Venus is called similar to the Earth, since they have the same compositions. But if we talk about natural space objects, then the planet named after the goddess of love is close to Mercury. These two planets of the solar system are unique in that they are completely alone.
Astrologers believe that Venus could have previously observed such, but to date, not a single one has been found.
How many natural satellites does the earth have?
Our native earth many satellites, but only one natural one, which every person knows from infancy, is the Moon.
The size of the Moon exceeds a quarter of the diameter of the Earth and is 3475 km. It is the only celestial body with such large dimensions relative to the "owner".
Surprisingly, its mass is small at the same time - 7.35 × 10²²² kg, which indicates a low density. Multiple craters on the surface are visible from Earth even without any special devices.
What are the moons of Mars?
Mars is a rather small planet, which is sometimes called red because of its scarlet hue. It is given by iron oxide, which is part of it. Today, Mars boasts two natural celestial objects.
Both moons, Deimos and Phobos, were discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. They are the smallest and darkest objects in our comic system.
Deimos is translated as the ancient Greek god, sowing panic and horror. Based on observations, it is gradually moving away from Mars. Phobos, named after the god who brings fear and chaos, is the only satellite that is so close to the "owner" (at a distance of 6000 km).
The surfaces of Phobos and Deimos are abundantly covered with craters, dust and various loose rocks.
Moons of Jupiter
To date, the giant Jupiter has 67 satellites - more than any other planet. The largest of them are considered an achievement Galileo Galilei, since they were discovered by him in 1610.
Among the celestial bodies orbiting Jupiter, it is worth noting:
- Adrastea, with a diameter of 250 × 147 × 129 km and a mass of ~3.7 × 1016 kg;
- Metis - dimensions 60 × 40 × 35 km, weight ~ 2 1015 kg;
- Thebe, which has a scale of 116×99×85 and a mass of ~4.4×1017 kg;
- Amalteyu - 250 × 148 × 127 km, 2 1018 kg;
- Io with a weight of 9 1022 kg at 3660×3639×3630 km;
- Ganymede, which, with a mass of 1.5 1023 kg, had a diameter of 5263 km;
- Europe, occupying 3120 km and weighing 5 1022 kg;
- Callisto, with a diameter of 4820 km having a mass of 1 1023 kg.
The first satellites were discovered in 1610, some from the 70s to the 90s, then in 2000, 2002, 2003. The last of them were discovered in 2012.
Saturn and its moons
Found 62 satellites, of which 53 have names. Most of them are composed of ice and rock, with a reflective feature.
The largest space objects of Saturn:
How many moons does Uranus have?
On the this moment Uranus has 27 natural celestial bodies. They are named after characters. famous works by Alexander Pope and William Shakespeare.
Names and list by quantity with description:
Moons of Neptune
The planet, whose name is consonant with the name of the great god of the seas, was discovered in 1846. She was the first to be found through mathematical calculations, and not through observation. Gradually, new satellites were discovered in her, until 14 were counted.
List
The moons of Neptune are named after nymphs and various sea deities from Greek mythology.
The beautiful Nereid was discovered in 1949 by Gerard Kuiper. Proteus is a non-spherical cosmic body and is studied in detail by planetary scientists.
Giant Triton is the iciest object in the solar system with a temperature of -240°C, and also the only satellite that rotates around itself in the opposite direction to the rotation of the "master".
Almost all satellites of Neptune have craters on the surface, volcanoes - both fiery and ice. They spew mixtures of methane, dust, liquid nitrogen and other substances from their depths. Therefore, a person will not be able to be on them without special protection.
What are the "satellites of the planets" and how many of them are there in the solar system?
Satellites are cosmic bodies that are smaller in size than the "host" planets and orbit the latter. The question of the origin of satellites is still open and is one of the key questions in modern planetary science.
To date, 179 natural space objects, which are distributed as follows:
- Venus and Mercury - 0;
- Earth - 1;
- Mars - 2;
- Pluto - 5;
- Neptune - 14;
- Uranus - 27;
- Saturn - 63;
- Jupiter - 67.
Technologies are improving every year, finding more celestial bodies. It is possible that new satellites will be discovered soon. We can only wait, constantly checking the news.
The largest satellite in the solar system
The largest moon in our solar system is Ganymede, a moon of the giant Jupiter. Its diameter, according to scientists, is 5263 km. The next largest is Titan with a size of 5150 km - the "moon" of Saturn. Closes the top three Callisto - Ganymede's "neighbor", with whom they share one "owner". Its scale is 4800 km.
Why do planets need satellites?
Planetologists at all times asked themselves the question "Why do we need satellites?" or “What effect do they have on the planets?” Based on observations and calculations, some conclusions can be drawn.
Natural satellites play important role for "owners". They create a certain climate on the planet. No less important is the fact that they serve as protection against asteroids, comets, and other dangerous celestial bodies.
Despite such a significant impact, satellites are still not mandatory for the planet. Even without their presence, life can be formed and maintained on it. This conclusion was made by American scientist Jack Lissauer from the NASA Science Space Center.
Page 1 of 5
Moon
(Moon) Average radius: 1737.10 km. Rotation period: turned to the Earth on one side.
The moon is the only one natural satellite Earth. 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).
Visible 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 discovered traces of water in the soil samples of the Moon, which was released in large quantities from the bowels of the satellite on early stages his 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 satellite of Mars, for a long time 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 Neptune's largest moon and the only major 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 well sunlight, since 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 peel 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 into 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 of the binary system in 2015.
The central star of our system, in different orbits around which all the planets pass, is called the Sun. Its age is about 5 billion years. This is a yellow dwarf, so the size of the star is small. It doesn't run out very quickly. The solar system has reached approximately the middle of its life cycle. After 5 billion years, the balance of gravitational forces will be disturbed, the star will increase in size, gradually heat up. converts all of the sun's hydrogen into helium. By this time, the size of the star will be three times larger. Ultimately, the star will cool down, decrease. Today the Sun is made up almost entirely of hydrogen (90%) and some helium (10%).
Today, the satellites of the Sun are 8 planets, around which other celestial bodies, several dozen comets, as well as great amount asteroids. All these objects move in their orbit. If you add up the mass of all the satellites of the Sun, it turns out that they are 1000 times lighter than their star. The main celestial bodies of the system deserve detailed consideration.
General concept of the solar system
To consider the satellites of the Sun, you need to familiarize yourself with the definitions: what is a star, planet, satellite, etc. A star is a body that radiates light and energy into space. This is possible due to what is happening in it. thermonuclear reactions and compression processes under the influence of gravity. There is only one star in our system - the Sun. 8 planets revolve around it.
The planet today is called heavenly body, which revolves around the star and has a spherical (or close to it) shape. Such objects do not emit light (they are not stars). They can reflect it. Also, the planet does not have other large celestial bodies near its orbit.
A satellite is also called an object that revolves around other, larger stars or planets. It is kept in orbit by the force of gravity of this large celestial body. To understand how many satellites the Sun has, it should be noted that this list, in addition to planets, includes asteroids, comets, and meteorites. It is almost impossible to count them.
planets
Until recently, it was believed that our system has 9 planets. After much discussion, Pluto was removed from this list. But it is also part of our system.
The 8 major planets are held in their orbits by the Sun. A satellite (planet) can also have celestial bodies revolving around it. There are quite large objects. All planets are divided into 2 groups. The first includes the inner satellites of the Sun, and the second - the outer ones.
The planets of the terrestrial (first) group are as follows:
- Mercury (closest to the star).
- Venus (the hottest planet).
- Earth.
- Mars (the most accessible object for research).
They consist of metals, silicates, their surface is hard. The outer group are the gas giants. These include:
- Jupiter.
- Saturn.
- Uranus.
- Neptune.
Their composition is characterized by a high content of hydrogen and helium. These are systems.
planetary satellites
Considering the question of how many satellites the Sun has, we should mention the celestial bodies revolving around the planets. AT Ancient Greece Venus, Mercury, Sun, Mars, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn were considered planets. Only in the 16th century the Earth was included in this list. The sun has taken in the understanding of people its central importance in our system. The moon turned out to be a satellite of the Earth.
With the advent of more advanced technologies, it was found that almost all planets have their own satellites. Only Venus and Mercury do not have them. Today, about 60 satellites of the planets are known, which are characterized by different sizes. The least known of them is Leda. This one is only 10 km in diameter.
Most of these objects, located in the orbit of gas giants, were discovered using automatic space technology. She provided scientists with photographs of such celestial objects.
Mercury and Venus
Our star has two rather small objects closest to itself. The Sun's satellite Mercury is the smallest planet in the system. Venus is slightly larger than him. But both of these planets do not have their satellites.
Mercury has a highly rarefied helium atmosphere. It orbits its star in 88 Earth days. But the duration of a revolution around its axis for this planet is 58 days (by our standards). The temperature on the sunny side reaches +400 degrees. At night, cooling down to -200 degrees is recorded here.
At Venus, the atmosphere consists of hydrogen with impurities of nitrogen and oxygen. Here there is Greenhouse effect. Therefore, the surface heats up to a record +480 degrees. This is more than on Mercury. This planet is best seen from Earth, as its orbit is closest to us.
Earth
Our planet is the largest among all the representatives terrestrial group. It is unique in many ways. Earth has the largest celestial body in its orbit among the first 4 planets from a star. The satellite of the Sun, which is our planet, differs significantly from all in its atmosphere. Thanks to this, life became possible on it.
About 71% of the surface is occupied by water. The remaining 29% is land. The basis of the atmosphere is nitrogen. It also includes oxygen, carbon dioxide, argon and water vapor.
The Earth's satellite, the Moon, has no atmosphere. There is no wind, sounds, weather on it. It is a rocky, bare surface covered with craters. On Earth, traces of meteorite impacts are smoothed out under the influence of vital activity various kinds due to wind and weather. There is nothing on the moon. Therefore, all traces of her past are reflected very clearly.
Mars
It is the closing planet of the terrestrial group. It is called the "Red Planet" due to great content iron oxide in the soil. It is quite similar to the Earth satellite. It revolves around the Sun for 678 Earth days. Scientists believed that life could once exist here. However, studies have not confirmed this. Mars' moons are Phobos and Deimos. They are smaller than the moon.
It's colder here than on our planet. At the equator, the temperature reaches 0 degrees. At the poles, it drops to -150 degrees. This world is already available for astronaut flights. Spaceship can reach the planet in 4 years.
In ancient times, rivers flowed on the surface of the planet. There was water here. Now there are ice caps at the poles. Only they are not made of water, but of carbon dioxide atmosphere. Scientists suggest that water may be frozen in large chunks below the surface of the planet.
gas giants
Beyond Mars are the largest objects that accompany the Sun. The planets (satellites of the planets of this group) were studied using various equipment. The largest object in our system is Jupiter. It is 2.5 times more massive than all the planets orbiting the Sun combined. It consists of helium, hydrogen (which is similar to our star). The planet radiates heat. However, to be considered a star, Jupiter needs to become 80 times heavier. It has 63 satellites.
Saturn is slightly smaller than Jupiter. He is known for his rings. These are ice particles of various diameters. The density of the planet is less than that of water. It has 62 satellites.
Uranus and Neptune are even further away than the previous two planets. They were discovered with a telescope. They include a large number of high-temperature modifications of ice. These are Ice Giants. Uranus has 23 moons and Neptune has 13.
Pluto
The sun's moons are also complemented by a small object called Pluto. From 1930 to 2006, he held the title of the planet. However, after lengthy discussions, scientists came to the conclusion that this is not a planet. Pluto falls into a different category. From the point of view of the current planetary classification, this is a prototype. The surface of the object is covered with frozen ice from methane and nitrogen. Pluto has 1 satellite.
Having studied the main satellites of the Sun, it should be said that this is a whole system consisting of a large number of different objects. Their characteristics and indicators are different. What unites all these objects is a force that makes them constantly rotate around their central star.
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 moons
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 made a fatal mistake - he delayed 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 ordinary cosmic bodies, they moved on their own and did not touch anyone, they only got into trouble in a gravitational field gas giant– and now they have to spin around him.
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.
Useful3 Not very
Comments0
Since childhood, I loved astronomy, which is why I studied this science well. Jupiter was my favorite planet. Jupiter -the largest 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. The modern name of the planet is named after the 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 birth of not only unicellular, but also more complex shapes life;
- 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
Other satellites often have irregular shape and represent rocky bodies. One of the most interesting small satellites - Amalthea. Amalthea was once a whole body, but due to a meteor 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.
Helpful1 Not very good
Comments0
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
At the moment, 79 satellites are known: 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.
Useful0 Not very
Comments0
In the summer of 2011, I followed the launch with excitement interplanetary station Juno 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 the solar panels she transmitted so much data that scientists will 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.
Useful0 Not very
Comments0
We invite you to learn some interesting and informative facts about the satellites of the planets of the solar system.
1. Ganymede is a large satellite. This is the largest satellite not only of Jupiter, but also of the solar system as a whole. He is so big. that has its own magnetic field.
2. Miranda is an ugly companion. Considered the ugly duckling of the solar system. It seems as if someone made a satellite out of pieces and sent it to revolve around Uranus. Miranda has the most picturesque landscapes throughout the solar system: mountain ranges and valleys form bizarre crowns and canyons, some of which are 12 times deeper than the Grand Canyon. For example, if you throw a stone at one of these, it will fall only after 10 minutes.
3. Callisto is the satellite with the most a large number craters. Unlike other celestial bodies, Callisto does not have geological activity, which makes its surface unprotected. Therefore, this satellite looks like the most "beaten".
4. Dactyl is an asteroid satellite. It is the smallest moon in the entire solar system, as it is only one mile wide. In the photo you can see Ida's moon, and Dactyl is the small dot on the right. The uniqueness of this satellite lies in the fact that it does not revolve around the planet, but around the asteroid. Previously, scientists believed that asteroids were small enough to have satellites, but, as you can see, they were wrong.
5. Epimetheus and Janus are satellites that miraculously avoided a collision. Both satellites revolve around Saturn in the same orbit. They probably used to be one satellite. What is remarkable: every 4 years, as soon as the moment of collision comes, they change places.
6. Enceladus is the bearer of the ring. It is an inner satellite of Saturn that reflects almost 100% of the light. The surface of Enceladus is filled with geysers that blast particles of ice and dust into space, forming Saturn's E ring.
7. Triton - with ice volcanoes. It is the largest moon of Neptune. It is also the only satellite in the solar system that rotates in the opposite direction from the rotation of the planet itself. Volcanoes on Triton are active, but they do not eject lava, but water and ammonia, which freeze on the surface.
8. Europe - with large oceans. This moon of Jupiter has the smoothest surface in the solar system. The thing is that the satellite is a continuous ocean covered with ice. There is 2-3 times more water here than on Earth.
9. Io is a volcanic hell. This satellite is similar to Mordor from The Lord of the Rings. Almost the entire surface of the satellite, which revolves around Jupiter, is covered with volcanoes, the eruption of which occurs very often. There are no craters on Io, as lava fills their surface, thereby leveling it.
11. Titan is a home away from home. This is perhaps the strangest satellite solar system. He alone has an atmosphere that is several times denser than on Earth. What was under the opaque clouds remained unknown for many years. Titan's atmosphere is nitrogen-based, just like Earth's, but it also contains other gases, such as methane. If the level of methane on Titan is high, then methane rain can fall on the satellite. The presence of large bright spots on the surface of the satellite suggests that there may be liquid seas on the surface, which may include methane. It is worth noting that Titan is the most suitable celestial body for the search for life.
