Planets and asteroids in our solar system orbit the Sun. Moons — also known as natural satellites — orbit planets and asteroids. Moons come in many shapes, sizes and types. There are dozens of moons in our solar system — even a few asteroids have small companion moons.
We on Earth have just one moon, but some planets have dozens of them. Others don’t have any. Which planets have moons, and which don’t? Let’s go in order from the Sun.
Mercury and Venus:
Up first are Mercury and Venus. Neither of them has a moon.
Earth:
Up next is Earth, and of course we have 1 moon.
Mars:
Mars has 2 moons. Their names are Phobos and Deimos.
Jupiter:
Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system and has also the biggest moon too which is named Ganymede. Jupiter has 79 known moons and the most well-known are Europa and Callisto.
Saturn:
Saturn has 62 moons. And that’s not counting Saturn’s beautiful rings. Saturn’s moons have great names like Mimas, Enceladus, and Tethys. One of these moons, named Titan, even has its own atmosphere, which is very unusual for a moon.
Uranus:
Uranus has 27 moons that we know of. Some of them are half made of ice. While most of the satellites orbiting other planets take their names from various mythologies, Uranus’ moons are unique in being named for Shakespearean characters, along with a couple of the moons being named for characters from the works of Alexander Pope.
Neptune:
Lastly, Neptune has 14 named moons. One of Neptune’s moons, Triton, is as big as dwarf planet Pluto!
Source: nasa.gov