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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 ]
The Earth May Have Once Had Multiple Moons George Pachantouris ... polar orbits were stable immediately after the formation of the Moon, at the time when there was a lot of debris around the ...
Irregular moons are probably minor planets that have been captured from surrounding space. Most irregular moons are less than 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) in diameter. The earliest published discovery of a moon other than Earth's was by Galileo Galilei, who discovered the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610. Over the following three ...
Many trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) have been discovered; in many cases their positions in this list are approximate, as there is frequently a large uncertainty in their estimated diameters due to their distance from Earth. Solar System objects more massive than 10 21 kilograms are known or expected to be approximately spherical.
There are 293 confirmed moons in our cosmic neighborhood. By studying these worlds, astronomers hope to learn about ancient asteroid collisions, space volcanoes, and the origins of life itself.
The two innermost moons, Cordelia and Ophelia, are shepherds of Uranus's ε ring, whereas the small moon Mab is a source of Uranus's outermost μ ring. [12] There may be two additional small (2–7 km in radius) undiscovered shepherd moons located about 100 km exterior to Uranus's α and β rings. [24]
Tethys has two trojan moons, Telesto (leading) and Calypso (trailing), and Dione also has two, Helene (leading) and Polydeuces (trailing). [23] Helene is by far the largest trojan moon, [53] while Polydeuces is the smallest and has the most chaotic orbit. [52] These moons are coated with dusty material that has smoothed out their surfaces. [62]
Why full moons in the night sky are worth viewing, how they got their names and other interesting lunar facts. Your guide to full moons for 2024: Supermoons, solstices, equinoxes and more Skip to ...