thumb|upright=1.35|The [[Moon orbiting around Earth (observed by the Deep Space Climate Observatory)]]
A natural satellite is, in the most common usage, an astronomical body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body (or sometimes another natural satellite). Natural satellites are colloquially referred to as moons, by analogy with the Moon, Earth's natural satellite, classically also known as Selene or Luna. In English, the Moon with a capital M denotes Earth's satellite, while moon with a lowercase m is used generically for natural satellites.
In the Solar System, there are six planetary satellite systems, altogether comprising 455 natural satellites with confirmed orbits. Seven objects commonly considered dwarf planets by astronomers are also known to have natural satellites: , Pluto, Haumea, , Makemake, , and Eris.
The first to use the term satellite to describe orbiting bodies was the German astronomer Johannes Kepler in his pamphlet Narratio de Observatis a se quatuor Iouis satellitibus erronibus ("Narration About Four Satellites of Jupiter Observed") in 1610. He derived the term from the Latin word satelles, meaning "guard", "attendant", or "companion", because the satellites accompanied their primary planet in their journey through the heavens. A few recent authors define "moon" as "a satellite of a planet or minor planet", and "planet" as "a satellite of a star" – such authors consider Earth as a "natural satellite of the Sun". though objects a tenth that size within Saturn's rings, which have not been directly observed, have been called moonlets. Small asteroid moons (natural satellites of asteroids), such as Dactyl, have also been called moonlets.
The upper limit is also vague. Two orbiting bodies are sometimes described as a double planet rather than a primary and satellite; the Earth-Moon system is used as an example. Asteroids such as 90 Antiope are considered double asteroids, but they have not forced a clear definition of what constitutes a moon. Some authors consider the Pluto–Charon system to be a double (dwarf) planet, with one argument being that the barycentre lies above the surface of the larger body. In contrast, the barycenter of all planetary moons of the Solar System are located within the radius of their host planet.
Origin and orbital characteristics
The natural satellites orbiting relatively close to the planet on prograde, uninclined circular orbits (regular satellites) are generally thought to have been formed out of the same collapsing region of the protoplanetary disk that created its primary. In contrast, irregular satellites (generally orbiting on distant, inclined, eccentric and/or retrograde orbits) are thought to be captured asteroids possibly further fragmented by collisions. Most of the major natural satellites of the Solar System have regular orbits, while most of the small natural satellites have irregular orbits. The Moon and the Moons of Pluto are exceptions among large bodies in that they are thought to have originated from the collision of two large protoplanetary objects early in the Solar System's history (see the giant impact hypothesis). The material that would have been placed in orbit around the central body is predicted to have reaccreted to form one or more orbiting natural satellites. As opposed to planetary-sized bodies, asteroid moons are thought to commonly form by this process. Triton is another exception; although large and in a close, circular orbit, its motion is retrograde and it is thought to be a captured dwarf planet.
Trojan satellites
Two natural satellites are known to have small companions at both their and Lagrangian points, sixty degrees ahead and behind the body in its orbit. These companions are called trojan moons, as their orbits are analogous to the trojan asteroids of Jupiter. The trojan moons are Telesto and Calypso, which are the leading and following companions, respectively, of the Saturnian moon Tethys; and Helene and Polydeuces, the leading and following companions of the Saturnian moon Dione.
Temporary satellites
The capture of an asteroid from a heliocentric orbit is not always permanent. According to simulations, temporary satellites should be a common phenomenon. , the observed minor bodies that have displayed transient co-orbital motion with Earth are: , , , and .
was a temporary satellite of Earth for nine months in 2006 and 2007.
Tidal locking
Most regular moons (natural satellites following relatively close and prograde orbits with small orbital inclination and eccentricity) in the Solar System are tidally locked to their respective primaries, meaning that the same side of the natural satellite always faces its planet. This phenomenon comes about through a loss of energy due to tidal forces raised by the planet, slowing the rotation of the satellite until it is negligible. Exceptions are known; one such exception is Saturn's natural satellite Hyperion, which rotates chaotically because of the gravitational influence of Titan. Pluto's four, circumbinary small moons also rotate chaotically under Charon's influence.
Satellites of satellites
thumb|Artist impression of [[Rhea (moon)|Rhea's proposed rings]]
No "moons of moons" or subsatellites (natural satellites that orbit a natural satellite of a planet) are currently known. In most cases, the tidal effects of the planet would make such a system unstable. Potential exceptions include large moons on wide orbits, including Titan, Iapetus, Callisto, and the Moon. However, other sources of dynamical instability may remove such submoons, such as mascons on the Moon.
Calculations performed after the 2008 detection of a possible ring system around Saturn's moon Rhea indicate that satellites orbiting Rhea could have stable orbits. Furthermore, the suspected rings are thought to be narrow, a phenomenon normally associated with shepherd moons. However, targeted images taken by the Cassini spacecraft failed to detect rings around Rhea.
It has also been proposed that Saturn's moon Iapetus had a satellite in the past; this is one of several hypotheses that have been put forward to account for its equatorial ridge.
Light-curve analysis suggests that Saturn's irregular satellite Kiviuq is extremely prolate, and is likely a contact binary or even a binary moon.
Shape
<!--Linked from Template:Infobox planetary system-->
thumb|300px|The relative masses of the natural satellites of the [[Solar System. Mimas, Enceladus, and Miranda are too small to be visible at this scale. All the irregularly shaped natural satellites, even added together, would also be too small to be visible.]]
Neptune's moon Proteus is the largest irregularly shaped natural satellite, and is about as large as an icy moon can become before becoming relaxed into a spheroidal shape. The shapes of moons in synchronous orbit are expected to asymptotically change shape into rounded ellipsoids under hydrostatic equilibrium, although this may not happen in the age of the Solar System. For example, the larger Saturnian moons are in equilibrium, while Iapetus, Mimas, and Enceladus are apparently not. The shapes of Eris' moon Dysnomia and ' moon Vanth are presently unknown, although Dysnomia's density is high enough that it is probably a solid ellipsoid as well.
The larger natural satellites, being tidally locked, tend toward ovoid (egg-like) shapes: squat at their poles and with longer equatorial axes in the direction of their primaries (their planets) than in the direction of their motion. Methone, another of Saturn's moons, is only around 3 km in diameter and visibly egg-shaped. The effect is smaller on the largest natural satellites, where their gravity is greater relative to the effects of tidal distortion, especially those that orbit less massive planets or, as in the case of the Moon, at greater distances.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 0.9em;"
! rowspan="2" width=120 | Name
! rowspan="2" | Satellite of
! colspan="2" | Difference in axes
|-
! km
!
|-
| Mimas || Saturn || 33.4 while Europa, Enceladus, and Triton display evidence of ongoing tectonic activity and cryovolcanism. In the first three cases, the geological activity is powered by the tidal heating resulting from having eccentric orbits close to their giant-planet primaries.) Many other natural satellites, such as Earth's Moon, Ganymede, Titan, Tethys, and Miranda show evidence of past geological activity, resulting from energy sources such as the decay of their primordial radioisotopes, greater past orbital eccentricities (due in some cases to past orbital resonances), or the differentiation or freezing of their interiors. All four of the Galilean moons have atmospheres, though they are extremely thin. Four of the largest natural satellites, Europa, Saturn has an additional six mid-sized natural satellites massive enough to have achieved hydrostatic equilibrium, and Uranus has five. It has been suggested that some satellites may potentially harbour life.
Among the objects generally agreed by astronomers to be dwarf planets, Ceres and have no known natural satellites. Pluto has the relatively large natural satellite Charon and four smaller natural satellites; Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. Haumea has two natural satellites; , , Makemake, , and have one each. The Pluto–Charon system is unusual in that the center of mass lies in open space between the two, a characteristic sometimes associated with a double-planet system.
Non-planetary satellites
The discovery of 243 Ida's natural satellite Dactyl in the early 1990s confirmed that some asteroids have natural satellites; indeed, 87 Sylvia has two. Some, such as 90 Antiope, are double asteroids with two comparably sized components. For astronomers, a useful aspect of an asteroid satellite is that it can be used to determine the density of the primary asteroid, without the need for a spacecraft fly-by mission.
Besides planets and dwarf planets objects within the Solar System known to have natural satellites are 76 in the asteroid belt (five with two each), four Jupiter trojans, 39 near-Earth objects (two with two satellites each), and 14 Mars-crossers. Of these, Ganymede and Titan are larger than the planet Mercury, while Callisto is about the same size. The next size group of nine mid-sized natural satellites, between 1,000 km and 1,600 km across, consists of Titania, Oberon, Rhea, Iapetus, Charon, Ariel, Umbriel, Dione, and Tethys, the smallest. As well as the natural satellites of the various planets, there are hundreds of known natural satellites of the dwarf planets, minor planets and other small Solar System bodies.
|<!--Haumea-->
|<!--Quaoar-->
|<!--Makemake-->
|<!--Gonggong-->
|<!--Eris-->
| <!--Minor planets-->
| <!--Other objects-->1036 Ganymed<br />243 Ida<br />
|-
! 10–25
|<!--Earth-->
| <!--Mars-->Phobos<br />Deimos
| <!--Jupiter-->Leda<br />Adrastea
| <!--Saturn-->Telesto<br />Paaliaq<br />Calypso<br />Ymir<br />Kiviuq<br />Tarvos<br />Ijiraq<br />Erriapus
| <!--Uranus-->Mab<br />Cupid<br />Francisco<br />Ferdinand<br />Margaret<br />Trinculo<br />S/2023 U 1
|<!--Neptune-->S/2021 N 1 (?)
|<!--Orcus-->
| <!--Pluto-->Kerberos<br />Styx
|<!--Haumea-->
|<!--Quaoar-->
|<!--Makemake-->
|<!--Gonggong-->
|<!--Eris-->
| <!--Minor planets-->762 Pulcova I<br /><br />624 Hektor I Skamandrios<br /><br />121 Hermione I<br />283 Emma I<br />1313 Berna I<br />107 Camilla I
| <!--Other objects-->433 Eros<br />1313 Berna<br />
|-
! < 10
|<!--Earth-->
|<!--Mars-->
| <!--Jupiter-->99 moons<!--THESE ARE THE NUMBER OF MOONS SMALLER THAN 10 KM, NOT THE TOTAL NUMBER!-->
| <!--Saturn-->266 moons<!--THESE ARE THE NUMBER OF MOONS SMALLER THAN 10 KM, NOT THE TOTAL NUMBER!-->
|<!--Uranus-->Uranus XXVIII (?)
|<!--Neptune-->
|<!--Orcus-->
|<!--Pluto-->
|<!--Haumea-->
|<!--Quaoar-->
|<!--Makemake-->
|<!--Gonggong-->
|<!--Eris-->
| <!--Minor planets--><br /><br />
| <!--Other objects-->many
|}
See also
Moons of planets
Moons of dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies
References
</references> <!-- end of reflist -->
External links
All moons
- Natural Satellite Physical Parameters (JPL-NASA, with refs – last updated July 2006)
- Moons of the Solar System (The Planetary Society, as of March 2009)
- The JPL's Solar System Dynamics page
- Planetary Names: Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers
- "Upper size limit for moons explained" Kelly Young. Nature (vol 441, p. 834) 14 June 2006
- Images of planets and major moons (not to scale)
- The Planetary Society – Moon Montage(s)
- Album of moon images by Kevin M. Gill
- The Atlas of Moons by the National Geographic Society
Jupiter's moons
- * Scott S. Sheppard
- Scott S. Sheppard
Saturn's moons
- Satellite-hunters find four new moons of the planet Saturn David Brand | 26 October 2000
- Saturn's New Satellite S/2003 S1 Scott S. Sheppard