Which planets of the solar system have satellites. Which planet has the most satellites
Natural satellites are relatively small cosmic bodies that orbit larger “host” planets. In part, an entire science is dedicated to them - planetology.
In the 70s, astronomers assumed that Mercury had several celestial bodies dependent on it, as they caught around ultraviolet radiation. It later turned out that the light belonged to a distant star.
Modern equipment allows us to study the planet closest to the Sun in more detail. Today, all planetary scientists unanimously insist that it has no satellites.
Moons of the planet Venus
Venus is called Earth-like because they have similar 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 in the solar system are unique in that they are completely alone.
Astrologers believe that Venus could have previously seen these, but to date not a single one has been discovered.
How many natural satellites does the Earth have?
Our native Earth has many satellites, but only one natural one, which every person knows about from infancy - this is the Moon.
The size of the Moon is more than 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 “host”.
Surprisingly, its mass is small - 7.35 × 10²² kg, which indicates low density. Multiple craters on the surface are visible from Earth even without any special devices.
What moons does Mars have?
Mars is a fairly small planet that is sometimes called red because of its scarlet hue. It is given by iron oxide, which is part of its composition. 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 who spreads panic and terror. Based on observations, it is gradually moving away from Mars. Phobos, bearing the name of the god who brings fear and chaos, is the only satellite that is so close to the “master” (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
Today, the giant Jupiter has 67 satellites - more than other planets. 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:
- Adrasteus, 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, with a scale of 116×99×85 and a mass of ~4.4×1017 kg;
- Amalthea - 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 and 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
62 satellites have been found, of which 53 have names. Most of them consist of ice and rocks, characterized by a reflective feature.
The largest space objects of Saturn:
How many moons does Uranus have?
At the moment, Uranus has 27 natural celestial bodies. They are named after characters from famous works authored by Alexander Pope and William Shakespeare.
Names and list by quantity with description:
Moons of Neptune
The planet, whose name is similar to the name of the great god of the seas, was discovered in 1846. She was the first to be found using mathematical calculations, and not through observations. Gradually, new satellites were discovered until they counted 14.
List
Neptune's moons 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 is also the only satellite rotating around itself in the direction opposite to the rotation of the “master”.
Almost all of Neptune's satellites have craters and volcanoes on their surface - both fire and ice. They spew from their depths mixtures of methane, dust, liquid nitrogen and other substances. Therefore, a person will not be able to stay on them without special protection.
What are “planetary satellites” and how many are there in the solar system?
Satellites are cosmic bodies that are smaller in size than the “host” planets and rotate in the orbits of the latter. The question of the origin of satellites is still open and is one of the key ones in modern planetology.
Today, 179 natural space objects are known, which are distributed as follows:
- Venus and Mercury – 0;
- Earth – 1;
- Mars – 2;
- Pluto – 5;
- Neptune – 14;
- Uranium – 27;
- Saturn – 63;
- Jupiter - 67.
Technology improves every year, finding more celestial bodies. Perhaps new satellites will be discovered soon. We can only wait, constantly checking the news.
The largest satellite in the solar system
Ganymede, a satellite of the giant Jupiter, is considered the largest in our solar system. Its diameter, according to scientists, is 5263 km. The next largest is Titan with a size of 5150 km - the “moon” of Saturn. The top three is closed by Callisto, the “neighbor” of Ganymede, with whom they share one “master”. Its scale is 4800 km.
Why do planets need satellites?
Planetologists have always asked the question “Why are satellites needed?” or “What effect do they have on the planets?” Based on observations and calculations, some conclusions can be drawn.
Natural satellites play an important role for the “hosts”. 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 necessary for the planet. Even without their presence, life can form and be maintained on it. This conclusion was reached by the American scientist Jack Lissauer from the NASA Space Science Center.
The science
Our Solar System contains a huge number of different cosmic bodies, including 200 large satellites orbiting the main planets, dwarf planets and even asteroids. Many of these satellites have interesting features. In this article you can get acquainted with the 10 most interesting satellites of our star system and learn about their features.
1) Nereid, satellite of Neptune
Nereid was discovered in 1949 Gerard Kuiper. It is Neptune's third largest moon. It has the most eccentric orbit of all the satellites in the solar system. Because of this, the distance between the planet and its satellite varies greatly. The closest the satellite can get to Neptune is 1.4 million kilometers. The farthest it can go is 9.6 million kilometers. To make one revolution around Neptune, given such a far distance from it, Nereid requires 360 Earth days.
2) Mimas, satellite of Saturn
This small satellite was discovered in 1789 William Herschel. The average diameter of this object is about 400 kilometers. Mimas is notable for the fact that on its surface there is a giant crater Herschel with a diameter of about 130 kilometers and a depth of 10 kilometers. Herschel is not the largest crater of the solar system's satellites, but it is very unusual. The crater covers one third of Mimas's surface and makes it look like the Death Star station from Star Wars.
3) Iapetus, satellite of Saturn
Discovered in 1671 Giovanni Cassini, Saturn's moon Iapetus has been recognized as one of the strangest moons in the solar system. The diameter of Iapetus averages 1,460 kilometers. Distinctive feature of this satellite is that it has sections different color that reflect light differently. One half of the planet is pitch black, while the other half is exceptionally light and bright. Because of this, we can only observe the satellite when it appears on one side of the planet. Iapetus also has a mountain range - an equatorial mountain ring, which reaches a height of about 10 kilometers and encircles the object along its equator. Scientists have put forward 2 hypotheses to explain the appearance of these mountains. According to one version, the ring formed at the beginning of the satellite’s existence, when Iapetus was spinning much faster than it is now. Other scientists believe that the mountain range was formed from material from another satellite, which belonged to Iapetus itself, but crashed, and its debris settled on Iapetus' equator.
4) Dactyl, satellite of the asteroid Ida
Discovered in 1995 using spaceship Galileo, the satellite of the asteroid Ida - Dactyl - has about a kilometer in diameter. This satellite is notable because it was the first satellite discovered to orbit an asteroid. Scientists cannot yet say for sure about the origin of this satellite and do not know whether it is part of its native asteroid, or was once captured by this asteroid. Dactyl proves the existence of satellites on asteroids. After that, scientists noticed another two dozen similar satellites around various other asteroids in the Solar System.
5) Europa, satellite of Jupiter
Europa has been discovered Galileo Galilei in January 1610. It is quite a bit smaller than our Moon. Europa's surface is striking, carved with dark intersecting lines. Scientists suggest that the lines represent cracks and breaks in Europa's ice shell. Perhaps the cracks formed due to the influence of Jupiter and other satellites orbiting the planet. Beneath Europa's thick layer of ice there may be an ocean of liquid salt water that makes the moon special. Unlike Earth, it is believed that Europa has a very deep ocean, so it completely covers the entire satellite. Since Europa is located quite far from the Sun, its ocean froze, forming a crust about 100 kilometers thick. Perhaps due to internal more high temperature The water under the ice crust may remain liquid.
6) Enceladus, satellite of Saturn
Enceladus is the sixth largest moon of Saturn. It is not the largest, but has a number of interesting features. Enceladus was discovered in 1789 William Herschel. It is the brightest cosmic body in the solar system and reflects 100 percent sunlight from its surface. This fact makes it one of the coldest places, the temperature on the surface of the satellite is about minus 200 degrees Celsius. As you can see in the image, this satellite has a number of impact craters, but there are also quite smooth areas that indicate that in the geologically recent past the surface of the satellite was leveled. On south pole The satellite has large dark faults, which also indicate recent geological activity. These fractures release tons of material that makes up Saturn's E ring.
7) Io, satellite of Jupiter
Io was discovered in January 1610 by the same Galileo Galilei. It is slightly larger than our Moon. Io is the most volcanically active place in the solar system. The satellite is covered with many volcanoes, which release jets of substances at a distance of about 300 kilometers above the surface. Typically, an object of this size should have ceased volcanic activity a very long time ago, but due to Io’s orbital resonances with Jupiter, Europa and Ganymede, tidal heating occurs in the bowels of the satellite. If we omit the details, we can say that the increased volcanic activity of the satellite is associated with nearby cosmic bodies and its composition internal characteristics. Tidal heating causes most of the material lying beneath the surface to remain in a liquid state, which constantly changes the surface of the satellite.
8) Titan, satellite of Saturn
Titan is the only satellite besides our Moon on whose surface a spacecraft has landed. It was opened in 1655 Christian Huygens. Titan is the second largest moon in the Solar System. It is covered in a dense, foggy atmosphere consisting mainly of methane, nitrogen and ethane. This satellite is known for having an atmosphere similar to that of a planet. Also this the only place in the solar system, where, as scientists have proven, there is liquid on the surface, although this liquid is far from water, but methane.
9) Triton, satellite of Neptune
Triton was discovered in October 1846 by astronomer William Lassell, 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself. This is the largest of the satellites of the planet Neptune. Triton has the distinction of being the only large moon in the solar system that orbits a planet in the opposite direction to the planet's rotation. This suggests that Triton is a captured satellite of Neptune, because all natural satellites in the solar system rotate in the same direction as their planets. The only thing is that scientists cannot yet come to a consensus on how Neptune captured such a large body into its orbit. Triton is one of the coldest places in the solar system. When Voyager 2 flew past it in 1989, he found that Triton's temperature remained minus 235 degrees Celsius, that is, it was close to absolute zero. Voyager 2 also helped discover active geysers on Triton, so Triton is considered one of the few geologically active moons in the Solar System.
10) Ganymede, satellite of Jupiter
Discovered in 1610 Galileo Galilei, Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system. He more planet Mercury, as well as its size, is about three quadruples of Mars. It is so large that it would be considered a planet if it orbited the Sun rather than Jupiter. A notable feature of this satellite is that it is the only satellite in our system that has its own magnetic field. It has a molten iron core, which creates a magnetic field. In 1996, the space telescope Hubble discovered a thin layer of oxygen around the satellite, but it is so thin that it cannot support life.
Satellites are small bodies that orbit planets. In the solar system, two planets (Mercury and Venus) have no satellites, the Earth has one, and Mars has two. A large number of satellites are attracted by the magnetic field of Neptune (13 satellites), Uranus (27 satellites), Saturn (60 satellites). But Jupiter has the largest number of satellites. There are 63 of them! Now you know which planet has more satellites in the solar system.
In addition to such a huge number of satellites, Jupiter also has a system of rings. The first 4 satellites of Jupiter, the largest, were discovered by Galileo at the beginning of the 17th century. He gave them the names Europa, Ganymede, Io, Callisto (names of mythical heroes). With the development of telescopic technology, the remaining satellites began to be discovered; in the 70s of the last century, 13 of them were discovered. At the beginning of the third millennium, 47 more satellites of Jupiter were discovered. They are quite small, their radius reaches 4 km. Who knows how many more satellites of planets will be discovered over time, when the scientific and technological progress of mankind...
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Which planet has the most satellites?
The planet Jupiter has the largest number of satellites among the planets of the Solar System - as many as 63. In addition to them, this planet also boasts a system of rings. The first 4 satellites were discovered back in the Middle Ages in the 17th century using a telescope, and the last (most of them) were discovered at the end of the 20th century using spacecraft. The size of most of them is not too large - only 2 to 4 kilometers in diameter. Saturn has slightly fewer satellites - 60. But one of its satellites, Titan, is the second largest in the Solar System and has a diameter of 5100 km.
The third largest number of satellites is Uranus. He has 27 of them. And planets such as Venus and Mercury have no satellites at all. 5-11-2010
Have you read the answer to the question Which planet has the most satellites? and if you like the material, bookmark it - “Which planet has the most satellites?? . Which car is best for taxi work? This is controversial...
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At Jupiter...
Mercury has no satellites.
Venus also has no satellites
The Earth has one satellite: the Moon
The Moon is the only natural satellite of the Earth. It is the second brightest object in the earth's sky after the Sun and the fifth largest natural satellite in the solar system. It is also the first (and as of 2009, the only) extraterrestrial object of natural origin visited by humans. The average distance between the centers of the Earth and the Moon is 384,467 km.
The planet Mars has two satellites: Phobos (Greek - fear) and Deimos (Greek - horror).
Both satellites rotate around their axes with the same period as around Mars, therefore they always turn the same side towards the planet. The tidal influence of Mars gradually slows down the movement of Phobos, and will eventually lead to the fall of the satellite onto Mars. On the contrary, Deimos is moving away from Mars.
Jupiter has 63 moons
The moons of Jupiter are the natural satellites of the planet Jupiter. To date, scientists know 63...
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The central star of our system, around which all the planets pass in different orbits, is called the Sun. Its age is about 5 billion years. It is a yellow dwarf, so the size of the star is small. Its thermonuclear reactions are not consumed very quickly. The solar system has reached approximately the halfway point of its life cycle. After 5 billion years, the balance of gravitational forces will be disrupted, the star will increase in size and gradually warm up. Nuclear fusion converts all of the sun's hydrogen into helium. At this point, the size of the star will be three times larger. Ultimately, the star will cool down and shrink. Today the Sun consists almost entirely of hydrogen (90%) and some helium (10%).
Today, the satellites of the Sun are 8 planets, around which other celestial bodies revolve, several dozen comets, as well as a huge number of asteroids. All these objects move in their orbit. If you add up the mass of all the solar satellites, it turns out that they are 1000 times lighter than their star....
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To the question: Which planet in the solar system has the most satellites? given by the author Lissa the best answer is Maybe I’m wrong, but at the moment the planet Earth has the most satellites. Only these satellites are artificial (and the question didn’t say which ones). There are several hundred of them.
Answer from Igor Ermolin[newbie]
The correct answer is SATURN
Answer from Wake up[newbie]
and exactly?
Answer from Eurovision[newbie]
Jupiter has Mercury-0 Venus–0 Earth-1 Mars-2 Jupiter-63 Saturn-60 Uranus-27 Neptune-13 The planet Jupiter has 63 satellites. Whereas the planet earth has only one satellite - the Moon. There are 63 satellites of Jupiter greatest number satellites discovered to date from all the planets of the solar system. In addition to the largest number of satellites, Jupiter also has a system of rings.
Answer from Olya[guru]
At Jupiter.
Answer from User deleted[active]
Saturn
Answer from Marina[expert]
Jupiter
Answer from User deleted[expert]
There is a table here Planet Distance from the Sun Orbital period Rotation period Diameter, km Mass, kg Number of satellites Density g/cm
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Satellites of the planets
Mercury and Venus have no satellites. The remaining planets, with the exception of the Earth, have satellites immeasurably smaller than their planets. The Earth has only one natural satellite - the Moon, but it is unusually large compared to itself. Moon smaller than Earth in diameter only 4 times. The largest planet, Jupiter, has the most satellites - 12. The next most massive planet, Saturn, has 10 of them, and the last one was discovered only in 1966. Uranus has 5 satellites, Neptune and Mars have 2 each. The largest of the satellites are Titan (a satellite of Saturn) and Ganymede (the third satellite of Jupiter). They are 1.5 times the diameter of the Moon and slightly larger than Mercury. Titan is the only moon to have an atmosphere (made of methane).
All satellites for which rotation has been established, including the Moon, are always turned to their planet with the same side. Therefore, their stellar rotation periods are equal to their periods of revolution around their planets. As a result, it is impossible to see from any planet reverse side her companions. In relation to the Sun, the period of rotation of satellites around the axis is longer than in relation to the stars, since during the revolution of the satellite the planet along with it will travel some more arc along its circumsolar orbit.
A sidereal month is the period of the Moon's revolution around the Earth relative to the stars; A synodic month is the period of revolution of the Moon around the Earth relative to the Sun. A synodic month is the period of time between equal phases of the Moon. The sidereal month is 27.3 days, and the synodic month is 29.5 days.
The point of the elliptical lunar orbit closest to Earth is called perigee, and the most distant point is called apogee.
The moon is visible to us as a narrow crescent, the rest of its disk also glows slightly. This phenomenon is called ashen light and is explained by the fact that the Earth illuminates the night side of the Moon with reflected sunlight.
It is easy to understand that the phases of the Earth and the Moon are mutually opposite. When the Moon is almost full, the Earth is visible from the Moon as a narrow crescent.
Returning to the satellites of the planets, we note that the four largest satellites of Jupiter can sometimes be seen even with prism binoculars. Through a telescope, in a few hours you can see how the satellites move noticeably, sometimes passing between Jupiter and Earth, and sometimes going behind Jupiter’s body or into its shadow, into an eclipse. Observing these eclipses of satellites, Roemer in the 17th century. discovered that the speed of propagation of light is finite, and established its value.
Many of the planets' satellites are interesting because of their motion. The moons of Mars are very small. The largest of them is Phobos. It has a diameter of 16 km and is located from the surface of Mars at a distance less than the diameter of the planet. Phobos orbits Mars three times faster than the planet itself rotates on its axis. Therefore, it rises twice a day in the west and twice completely changes all phases, sweeping across the sky.
The distant moons of Jupiter and Saturn are very small, and some of them point in the direction opposite to the rotation of the planet itself.
All 5 satellites of Uranus rotate in the opposite direction, and the planes of their orbits, like the planet’s equator, are almost perpendicular to the plane of Uranus’s orbit.