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The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It orbits at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times the diameter of Earth. Tidal forces between Earth and the Moon have synchronized the Moon's orbital period (lunar month) with its rotation period at 29.5 Earth days, causing the same side of the Moon to always face Earth.
Pages in category "Satellites orbiting the Moon" The following 19 pages are in this category, out of 19 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. A.
Neptune's moon Proteus is the largest irregularly shaped natural satellite; the shapes of Eris' moon Dysnomia and Orcus' moon Vanth are unknown. All other known natural satellites that are at least the size of Uranus's Miranda have lapsed into rounded ellipsoids under hydrostatic equilibrium , i.e. are "round/rounded satellites" and are ...
Triton is large enough to have achieved hydrostatic equilibrium, but, uniquely for a large moon, has a retrograde orbit, suggesting it was a dwarf planet that was captured. Neptune also has seven known inner regular satellites, and eight outer irregular satellites. Pluto, a dwarf planet, has five moons.
A subsatellite, also known as a submoon or informally a moonmoon, is a "moon of a moon" or a hypothetical natural satellite that orbits the moon of a planet. [3] It is inferred from the empirical study of natural satellites in the Solar System that subsatellites may be rare, albeit possible, elements of planetary systems. In the Solar System ...
There is an even smaller moon (a captured M-type asteroid) called Lepton orbiting at only 1,000 miles (1,600 km). [50] The 1956 Tom Swift, Jr. juvenile novel, Tom Swift on the Phantom Satellite, features a new moon entering Earth orbit at 50,000 miles (80,000 km) altitude. [51]
On 20 July 1969 Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, and Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. At the same time another mission, the robotic sample return mission Luna 15 by the Soviet Union, was in orbit around the Moon, becoming together with Apollo 11 the first ever case of two extraterrestrial missions being conducted at the ...
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 23 February 2025. Objects intentionally placed into orbit This article is about human-made satellites. For moons, see Natural satellite. For other uses, see Satellite (disambiguation). Two CubeSats orbiting around Earth after being deployed from the ISS KibÅ module's Small Satellite Orbital Deployer A ...