Sep 29, 2022
By Adrija Sen
Our Solar System is expansive, gorgeous, and full of magnificent things to learn about! So let’s explore the many moons that circle planets and are a part of our incredible solar system!
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Titan is Saturn's largest moon with a dense golden atmosphere. Similar to Earth, it has its own water cycle comprised of liquid hydrocarbons like ethane and methane that rain down on the icy mountains, rivers, and seas.
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Jupiter's Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system. But its most remarkable feature is that it's the only moon known to have its own magnetic field that causes auroras or ribbons of glowing gas that circle it!
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Triton is Neptune's largest moon which orbits in the opposite direction of its planet's rotation (retrograde orbit). Tritan also has the coldest atmosphere with frozen nitrogen that often erupts from geysers on the surface.
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Enceladus is a small, icy body with Geyser-like jets that spew water vapour and ice particles from an underground ocean. Enceladus’s global ocean and unique heat have led to speculations of it being a promising lead for sustaining life.
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Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System with some erupting lava lakes that can rise 300 km above the surface. Thanks to its intense gravitational forces, Io bulges up and down by as much as 100m!
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When ancient astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini discovered Iapetus in 1671, he noted that dark reddish dust floating Iapetus's orbit lands only one face of the moon making the other face the “light” side of the moon., resulting in a unique difference in colouration between its hemispheres.
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The two moons of Mars are the smallest in the solar system and are named Phobos (fear) and Deimos (panic) after the sons of the Greek god of war, Ares. They are believed to be asteroids captured by gravity and are the only known moons that orbit in close range of a planet.
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Saturn’s moon Mimas is often compared to the science-fiction spacecraft: The Death Star from Star Wars. This is because of the giant distinctive crater Herschel that is 130 kilometres across (one-third of the moon) and was formed in an impact that nearly shattered the moon.
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While Pluto is technically no longer a planet, we still need to talk about its moon, Charon! It is the largest among Pluto's five moons. The moon is nearly half Pluto's size and is often referred together as a double dwarf planetary system.
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