Friday, April 25, 2008

What does it mean for a planet to have "67" moons?

Among the known planets, only one has so many moons (also known as natural satellites). Jupiter has 67 moons, in total. Of these 67 moons, 50 are confirmed moons, while the remaining 17 moons are designated 'provisional moons'. The confirmed moons include Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, etc. The provisional moons are named S/2000 J11, S/2011 J1, etc.


Jupiter's moons were first discovered by famous astronomer Galileo Galilee and in fact, the four largest moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) are known as Galilean satellites. In comparison to these large moons, some of the provisional moons are extremely small (about 1- 3 km in diameter). 


Earth has only one natural satellite and we know it as Moon. Some of the other planets in our solar system also have moons, but none have as many as Jupiter.


Hope this helps. 

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