Moons of Planets
There are at least 290 moons orbiting planets in the solar system.
- Earth: 1
- Mars: 2
- Jupiter: 95
- Saturn: 146
- Uranus: 27
- Neptune: 14
- Pluto: 5
There are more than 470 satellites or moons orbiting smaller
objects like asteroids, dwarf planets, and Kuiper Belts Objects
(KBO).
There are several theories about the formation of the moons in
the solar system. Here are some of the main ones:
- Formed together with the planet from the same primordial
matter.
- Passing object that was captured by the planet.
- Result of a collision with another object in the solar
system.
Moons of Mars
- Phobos - fear
- Deimos - terror
Moons of Jupiter
- Io
- Europa
- Ganymede
- Callisto
Moons of Saturn
- Titan
- Enceladus
- Hyperion
- Prometheus
- Pandora
- Janus
- Epimetheus
- Mimas
- Iapetus
- Phoebe
- Tethys
- Telesto
Moons of Uranus
- Miranda
- Ariel
- Umbriel
- Titania
- Oberon
Moons of Neptune
There are 14 moons of Neptune - the Roman god of the sea. The
moons were named after lesser sea gods and nymphs in Greek
mythology.
- Triton
- Nereid
- Despina
- Galatea
- Halimede
- Hippocamp
- Laomedeia
- Larissa
- Naiad
- Neso
- Proteus
- Psamathe
- Sao
- Thalassa
Moons of Pluto
There are 5 moons of Pluto named after mythological figures in
the underworld. They are:
- Charon
- Nix
- Hydra
- Styx
- Kerberos
Astronomers think that the moon system of Pluto was formed by a
collision between two dwarf planets and another Kuiper Belt
Object.