Saturn Moons Continue To Take an Upward Trend
SATURN MOONS – The gas giant planet now has more moons compared to the moons when the rest of the planets’ are combined.
Planets is one of the most interesting topics not only for the young adults and adults but as well as for kids. They continue to ignite excitement most especially with their neverending changes. Before, there were nine (9) planets recognized prior to the exclusion of Pluto. They are the…
- Mercury
- Venus
- Earth
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
- Pluto
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) reduced Pluto into a dward planet mainly because of its size that does not meet the international body’s criteria. In specific, the said planet “has not cleared its neighboring regions of other objects”.
All the planets have moons. What is known to many people is that there are 290 moons in the solar system and most of them are found in the gas giant Saturn.
The Saturn moons have reached 146 in number. It is several folds more compared when the moons in the rest of the planets of the solar system are combined.
- Saturn Moons – 146
- Earth Moon – 1
- Mars Moons – 2
- Jupiter Moons – 95
- Uranus Moons – 27
- Neptune Moons – 14
- Dwarf planet Pluto Moons – 5
The Saturn moons actually come in different shapes — there are those that are spherical most especially the large ones but it also has the Prometheus that is shaped like a sweet potato, the Pandora which is shaped like a regular potato, the Janus which is like a meatball, and the Hyperion which is like a sponge.
According to the Solar System Exploration, there are also moons of the gas giant that have irregular shapes and textures. The planet has Titan which is its largest moon and the second largest moon in the solar system. Aside from Earth, it is the only known world where liquid is present on its surface.
The Saturn moon counts has steadily increased through the years. The title of having the most number of moons was previously snatched by the other gas giant, Jupiter, but the recent addition of 62 new moons of Saturn brought back its crown.