Satellites of the solar system: Names. Which satellite of the solar system is more than its planet? Top 10 interesting and unusual satellites of the solar system

Review of satellites of the solar system.

The solar system is quite complicated. It consists of many planets around which satellites move. In this article we will talk about them.

The concept of satellites and the reasons for their appearance

A satellite is a celestial body that moves around a planet or a larger celestial body in a certain orbit. In this case, the satellite must be constant. A fairly large number of satellites in the sun, although in fact it is not a planet, and not something more than a star. Bright light is due to the course of the synthesis of helium and hydrogen on its surface.

Since this reaction is exothermic, that is, with the release of heat, these are the glow of the star. Thanks to this light and warmth, life on Earth is possible. The most interesting thing is that the Earth is one of the many satellites of the Sun and rotates in a certain orbit.

Which satellite of the solar system is more than its planet?

The largest satellite is Ganyud. Together with him, Jupiter has a lot of Galileo satellites. The name is due to the fact that they were first discovered by the astronomer Galileo Galilee in the 1600s.

Earth -type planets satellites

In earth -type planets, which are characterized by high density and small size, there are not many satellites. The ground has only one permanent companion - the moon. And other earthly planets, also a few satellites. The fact is that Venus and Mercury did not find satellites. Although there was a lot of talk that some celestial bodies were constant and moved around Venus.

There is even a hypothesis that it was Mercury that once was a companion of Venus. But not so long ago, the assumption of the presence of satellites in Venus was canceled, saying that the fiery planet has only quasi satellites and asteroids that were taken as satellites. After some time, due to resonance, their movement diverged. Mars has only 2 satellites.

A small number of satellites in the earthly planets are due to their small mass and a low gravitational magnetic field, which, in principle, is not able to attract a huge amount of celestial bodies and hold them on the surface. Accordingly, the most satellites were found in giant planets that are outside the earth's planets after asteroid rings.

Satellites of giant planets and dwarf planets: quantity

Review:

• Jupiter has 69 satellites.
• Saturn has 62 satellite, and there is also a system of rings. This is nothing more than a suspension of small dispersed dust particles, which is attracted by the planet’s gravitational field. Therefore, something like spherical rings is obtained.
• Uranus has 27 satellites, as well as a system of rings.
• Neptune has only 14 satellites, there is also a system of rings.
• Pluto has 5 satellites. Previously, it was considered a full -fledged planet, but later it began to be attributed to dwarf planets, because it is small enough. There is little known about the planet. She has a system of rings, according to scientists, they were formed from cosmic dust, as well as volcanic rocks, which were obtained as a result of eruption of volcanoes on satellites of this planet.
• Recently, there are a lot of disputes among specialists, regarding the name, as well as the classification of Haron. The fact is, it used to be that it was a full -fledged Pluto satellite, but the barcenter was found not at all on the surface of Pluto, but in the middle between the planets. Therefore, Pluto and Haron began to be considered nothing more than a double planet or the so -called symbiosis of the planets, a system in which the bodies depend on each other. At the same time, Haron is not very different in size from Pluto.

In the solar system, several more dwarf planets were found that have satellites:

• Haumaa-this Planet-Carlik was opened in 2005, Spanish scientists. She has a system of rings, as well as two satellites. It is believed that this is the fastest -rotating planet. Thanks to this, its shape is not a ball, but something similar to an ellipsoid, that is, an elongated chicken egg.
• Tsetser is the most tiny of the dwarf planets of the solar system, which is closest to the planets of the earth's group. It was first opened in 1801. Then she was considered not a full -fledged planet. But later, after research, she was assigned the status of asteroid. And in 2006 she was attributed to dwarf planets. He has no satellites.
• Erid and Mcymak are also 2 dwarf planets, which has one satellite. McMak was opened in 2005, and Erid much earlier. In addition, this dwarf planet in 2006 claimed the title of 10 planet. However, after 2015, when the next spaceship was launched, it turned out that the parameters were somewhat inferior in size to Pluto. Although for a long time it was believed that they were almost the same size. In this regard, she was ranked for dwarf planets, as well as Pluto.

In the solar system, in addition to ordinary satellites in planets, there are also quasi satellites, which are much smaller and unstable orbiting. Therefore, their movement may change. In most cases, such quasi satellites often leave their orbit and disappear in space.

There are a lot of studies now, regarding a possible life on different planets. Scientists cannot confirm or refute the presence of living organisms. On Mars, spacecraft brought a decent amount of microorganisms that did not die on the planet, but continue to develop. At the same time, wheat in such aggressive conditions is also growing. This once again confirms that a person is a demanding creature. For the existence of more than half of the organisms of the globe, more severe conditions are suitable.

Top 10 interesting and unusual satellites of the solar system

Unusual satellites:

1. Ganyaed is the largest satellite of the solar system. This body rotates around Jupiter, it has a large size and a very intense magnetic field. It attracts asteroids and other cosmic objects. Also, rings and a suspension of dust are sometimes formed around this body. On the surface there are shock craters and frozen ice. Its composition is slightly similar to the earth.

   

2. Miranda is the most strange and ugly satellite of the solar system. The fact is that if you consider it, it does not seem round and monolithic at all. It resembles an interesting ball of irregular shape, as if it was cast from plasticine with a small child, with the help of pieces. Such an interesting, unusual form is due to the presence on the surface of this body of a huge number of canyons and mountain ranges. That is why, due to the high difference in mountain ranges and deep canyons, it turned out to be an interesting heterogeneous outline of the satellite. There is information that if you throw a stone into one of the deepest canyons on this heavenly body, then while it takes out the bottom, it will need to fly for more than 10 minutes. The relief resembles a complex mosaic.

   

3. Callisto is a satellite of Jupiter, which is characterized by a huge number of recesses. This is due to the fact that there is no atmosphere on the planet that repels other cosmic bodies. That is, almost everything that is in space comes to the surface, forming characteristic holes on it. It differs with a smoothed landscape and the absence of a radiation background.

   

4. Dactil is the most tiny satellite. This celestial body in its diameter reaches only one mile and rotate not around the planet, but an asteroid. Before this discovery, it was believed that asteroids could not have satellites because of their small size, and a small magnetic field. But with the discovery of the Dactil, this opinion has completely changed. This body is held due to the gravity of the asteroid.

   

5. Epimeter and Janus are two satellites of Saturn. According to many scientists, they used to be one. Due to space exposure were divided into two parts. The most interesting thing is that the orbits of these two heavenly bodies are distant from each other is very insignificant. They are very close. Therefore, every four years these objects change places, changing their orbits. An amazing fact that for a huge number of millions of years, these satellites did not encounter. After the density study, it was found that epimethy mainly consists of ice.

   

6. Triton is one of the largest satellites of Neptune. An interesting fact about this heavenly body is that it rotates not at all along the trajectory that the main planet, but in the opposite direction. In addition, it has a huge number of volcanoes. But they are not at all like those that are on the ground and not throw the lava at all, but the streams of methane. Due to the fact that the temperature in the heavenly body is very low, in the process of eruption, this mass immediately turns into ice and hardens. It differs in very low pressure and a variety of landscape. This makes it possible to suggest a great age of the celestial body. There are hypotheses that the movement of plates occurs on the Triton.

   

7. Titan is a strange, unknown satellite, which is little investigated. The fact is that this is one of the few bodies on which a very dense atmosphere is discovered. It is denser than the earth. This indicates that there may be some kind of life on the surface. The similarity between titanium and land is confirmed in the fact that the atmosphere in large quantities consists of nitrogen, just like the earthly one. In this case, there is a huge amount of methane. With freezing and reducing the temperature on the surface, methane rains may fall. There are light spots on this heavenly body. Astrophysics suggest that they can be provoked by the presence of seas, which may also consist of liquefied methane. There is an assumption that life can exist on this satellite, despite the temperature of -170 degrees. Conditions underground, in caves and craters can be normal for life.

   

8. Io is a volcanic satellite consisting of sulfur and lava. Scientists believe that some hills can be higher than Jomolungma. At the same time, frequent eruptions of volcanoes constantly change the color of the celestial body. An unstable body.

   

9. Europe is a continuous ocean. On the surface of the satellite of Jupiter, ice, under which one water. Life is also possible here, because the celestial body looks like the planets of the earth's group. After all, this is a celestial body of a metal core and silicates. All this is covered with water, the upper layers of which froze. There are no craters on the surface, but there are cracks. They are formed thanks to ice faults. Some stations found the release of water vapor at the poles. All this indicates the possible accumulation of energy and the emergence of life. Until 1970, it was believed that sunlight was needed for the existence of plants and animals. But after the discovery on the "black smokers" of mollusks, who live in complete darkness, the situation has changed. Now astrophysicists have ceased to include sunlight in the list of conditions for the normal existence of living organisms. One of the first places where a possible life was suspected is Europe. The ice contains a lot of oxygen, which is necessary for the flow of redox reactions. However, some scientists still reject a possible life in Europe due to the high sulfur content. With such high acidity, living organisms are quite problematic to survive. But at the same time, sources of peroxide were discovered, which speaks in favor of the hypothesis of life.

   

10. Enshalad is one of the main internal satellites of Saturn. Fights almost 100% of the world. The surface of the celestial body is covered with geysers that throw out the streams of ice and dust into space, which form the rings of Saturn. Not so long ago, information appeared that life is possible on this satellite. After all, the composition of water is similar to the earth. In June 2018, with the help of the probe, the corresponding test was taken from this celestial body. Complex macromolecules of an organic nature were found in the samples. Which confirms the possibility of living organisms. This was helped by the Kassini station.

    

All this applies to the natural satellites of the planets, which arose on their own from cosmic dust and gases accumulation. In addition, there are still artificial ones that are launched by people. Their orbit is clearly established. These are mainly reconnaissance devices in order to view the space around the planets, to fix unusual phenomena.

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