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A planetary-mass moon is a planetary-mass object that is also a natural satellite. They are large and ellipsoidal (sometimes spherical) in shape. Two moons in the Solar System are larger than the planet Mercury (though less massive): Ganymede and Titan, and seven are larger and more massive than the dwarf planets Pluto and Eris.
The concept of satellite planets – the idea that planetary-mass objects, including planetary-mass moons, are planets – is used by some planetary scientists, such as Alan Stern, who are more concerned with whether a celestial body has planetary geology (that is, whether it is a planetary body) than its solar or non-solar orbit (planetary dynamics).[1] This conceptualization of planets as three classes of objects (classical planets, dwarf planets and satellite planets) has not been accepted by the International Astronomical Union (the IAU). In addition, the IAU definition of 'hydrostatic equilibrium' is quite restrictive – that the object's mass is sufficient for gravity to overcome rigid-body forces to become plastic. In contrast, planetary-mass moons may be in hydrostatic equilibrium due to tidal or radiogenic heating, in some cases forming a subsurface ocean.
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Early history
The distinction between a satellite and a classical planet was not recognized until after the heliocentric model of the Solar System was established. When in 1610 Galileo discovered the first satellites of another planet (the four Galilean moons of Jupiter), he referred to them as "four planets flying around the star of Jupiter at unequal intervals and periods with wonderful swiftness."[2] Similarly, Christiaan Huygens, upon discovering Saturn's largest moon Titan in 1655, employed the terms "planeta" (planet), "Stella" (star), "luna" (moon), and the more modern "satellite" (attendant) to describe it.[3] Giovanni Cassini, in announcing his discovery of Saturn's moons Iapetus and Rhea in 1671 and 1672, described them as Nouvelles Planetes autour de Saturne ("New planets around Saturn").[4] However, when the Journal de Scavans reported Cassini's discovery of two new Saturnian moons (Tethys and Dione) in 1686, it referred to them strictly as "satellites", though sometimes to Saturn as the "primary planet".[5] When William Herschel announced his discovery of two objects in orbit around Uranus (Titania and Oberon) in 1787, he referred to them as "satellites" and "secondary planets".[6] All subsequent reports of natural satellite discoveries used the term "satellite" exclusively,[7] though the 1868 book Smith's Illustrated Astronomy referred to satellites as "secondary planets".[8]
Modern concept
In the modern era, Alan Stern considers satellite planets to be one of three categories of planets, along with dwarf planets and classical planets.[9] The term planemo ("planetary-mass object") covers all three populations.[10] Stern's and the IAU's definition of 'planet' depends on hydrostatic equilibrium – on the body's mass being sufficient to render it plastic, so that it relaxes into an ellipsoid under its own gravity. The IAU definition specifies that the mass is great enough to overcome 'rigid-body forces', and it does not address objects that may be in hydrostatic equilibrium due to a subsurface ocean or (in the case of Io) due to magma caused by tidal heating. Many of the larger icy moons could have subsurface oceans.[11]
The seven largest moons are more massive than the dwarf planet Pluto, which is known to be in hydrostatic equilibrium. (They are also known to be more massive than Eris, a dwarf planet even more massive than Pluto.) These seven are Earth's Moon, the four Galilean moons of Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto), and the largest moons of Saturn (Titan) and of Neptune (Triton). Ganymede and Titan are additionally larger than the planet Mercury, and Callisto is almost as large. All of these moons are ellipsoidal. That said, the two moons larger than Mercury have less than half its mass, and it is mass, along with composition and internal temperature, that determine whether a body is plastic enough to be in hydrostatic equilibrium. Io, Europa, Ganymede, Titan, and Triton are generally believed to be in hydrostatic equilibrium, but Earth's Moon is known not to be in hydrostatic equilibrium, and the situation for Callisto is unclear.
Another dozen moons are ellipsoidal as well, indicating that they achieved equilibrium at some point in their histories. However, it has been shown that some of these moons are no longer in equilibrium, due to them becoming increasingly rigid as they cooled over time. Dysnomia's shape is not known, but it appears to be dense enough that it must have collapsed to form a solid body.
Neptune's second-largest moon Proteus has occasionally been included by authors discussing or advocating geophysical conceptions of the 'planet'.[12][13] It is larger than Mimas but is quite far from being round.
Current equilibrium moons
Determining whether a moon is currently in hydrostatic equilibrium requires close observation, and is easier to disprove than to prove.
Earth's entirely rocky moon solidified out of equilibrium billions of years ago,[14] but most of the other six moons larger than Pluto, four of which are predominantly icy, are assumed to still be in equilibrium. (Ice has less tensile strength than rock, and is deformed at lower pressures and temperatures than rock.) The evidence is perhaps strongest for Ganymede, which has a magnetic field that indicates the fluid movement of electrically conducting material in its interior, though whether that fluid is a metallic core or a subsurface ocean is unknown.[15] One of the mid-sized moons of Saturn (Rhea) may also be in equilibrium,[16][11] as may a couple of the moons of Uranus (Titania and Oberon).[11] However, the other ellipsoidal moons of Saturn (Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione and Iapetus) are no longer in equilibrium.[16] In addition to not being in equilibrium, Mimas and Tethys have very low densities and it has been suggested that they may have non-negligible internal porosity,[17][18] in which case they would not be satellite planets. The situation for Uranus's three smaller ellipsoidal moons (Umbriel, Ariel and Miranda) is unclear, as is that of Pluto's moon Charon.[14] Eris' moon Dysnomia is larger than the three smallest ellipsoidal moons of Saturn and Uranus (Enceladus, Miranda, and Mimas), and must be quite massive to have tidally locked its parent; thus it has been included.[19]
Orcus' moon Vanth has been included as a possibility; it is larger than Mimas but is about the same size as non-ellipsoidal Proteus (Neptune VIII, the second-largest moon of Neptune, diameter 420±14 km). Also included is Varda's moon Ilmarë, which within current uncertainties might be about the same size as Mimas if Ilmarë is darker than Varda. That said, the similar absolute magnitudes of Varda and Ilmarë at different wavelengths suggests that Varda and Ilmarë have similar albedos, and hence that Ilmarë is probably smaller than Mimas.
List
Moon | Image | Radius | Mass | Density | Surface gravity | Year of discovery |
Hydrostatic equilibrium? | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Designation | (km) | (R☾) | (1021 kg) | (M☾) | (g/cm3) | (g) | |||
Ganymede | Jupiter III | 2634.1±0.3 | 156.4% | 148.2 | 201.8% | 1.942±0.005 | 0.146 | 1610 | ||
Titan | Saturn VI | 2574.7±0.1 | 148.2% | 134.5 | 183.2% | 1.882±0.001 | 0.138 | 1655 | [21] | |
Callisto | Jupiter IV | 2410.3±1.5 | 138.8% | 107.6 | 146.6% | 1.834±0.003 | 0.126 | 1610 | [22] | |
Io | Jupiter I | 1821.6±0.5 | 104.9% | 89.3 | 121.7% | 3.528±0.006 | 0.183 | 1610 | ||
Moon | Earth I | 1737.05 | 100% | 73.4 | 100% | 3.344±0.005 | 0.165 | Prehistoric | [23] | |
Europa | Jupiter II | 1560.8±0.5 | 89.9% | 48.0 | 65.4% | 3.013±0.005 | 0.134 | 1610 | ||
Triton | Neptune I | 1353.4±0.9 | 79.9% | 21.4 | 29.1% | 2.059±0.005 | 0.080 | 1846 | ||
Titania | Uranus III | 788.9±1.8 | 45.4% | 3.40±0.06 | 4.6% | 1.66±0.04 | 0.040 | 1787 | [11] | |
Rhea | Saturn V | 764.3±1.0 | 44.0% | 2.31 | 3.1% | 1.233±0.005 | 0.027 | 1672 | [16] | |
Oberon | Uranus IV | 761.4±2.6 | 43.8% | 3.08±0.09 | 4.2% | 1.56±0.06 | 0.036 | 1787 | [11] | |
Iapetus | Saturn VIII | 735.6±1.5 | 42.3% | 1.81 | 2.5% | 1.083±0.007 | 0.022 | 1671 | [16] | |
Charon | Pluto I | 603.6±1.4 | 34.7% | 1.53 | 2.1% | 1.664±0.012 | 0.029 | 1978 | [14] | |
Umbriel | Uranus II | 584.7±2.8 | 33.7% | 1.28±0.03 | 1.7% | 1.46±0.09 | 0.023 | 1851 | ||
Ariel | Uranus I | 578.9±0.6 | 33.3% | 1.25±0.02 | 1.7% | 1.59±0.09 | 0.028 | 1851 | ||
Dione | Saturn IV | 561.4±0.4 | 32.3% | 1.10 | 1.5% | 1.476±0.004 | 0.024 | 1684 | [16] | |
Tethys | Saturn III | 533.0±0.7 | 30.7% | 0.617 | 0.84% | 0.973±0.004 | 0.015 | 1684 | [16] | |
Dysnomia | Eris I | 350±58 | 20.1% ± 3.3% | 0.3–0.5[19] | 0.4%–0.7% | 1.8–2.4[19] | 0.016–0.028 | 2005 | [24] | |
Enceladus | Saturn II | 252.1±0.2 | 14.5% | 0.108 | 0.15% | 1.608±0.003 | 0.011 | 1789 | [16] | |
Miranda | Uranus V | 235.8±0.7 | 13.6% | 0.064±0.003 | 0.09% | 1.21±0.11 | 0.008 | 1948 | ||
Vanth | Orcus I | 221±5 | 12.7% ± 0.3% | 0.02–0.06 | 0.03%–0.08% | ≈0.8 | 0.003–0.008 | 2005 | ||
Mimas | Saturn I | 198.2±0.4 | 11.4% | 0.038 | 0.05% | 1.150±0.004 | 0.006 | 1789 | [16] | |
Ilmarë | Varda I | 163+19 −17[25] |
10.4% ± 1.2% | ca. 0.02?[26] | ca. 0.03% | 1.24+0.50 −0.35 (for system) |
0.004–0.006 | 2009 |
(Saturn VII is Hyperion, which is not gravitationally rounded; it is smaller than Mimas.)
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Atmospheres
Titan has a denser atmosphere (1.4 bar) than Earth; it is the only known moon with a significant atmosphere. Triton (14 μbar), Io (1.9 nbar [ك]), and Callisto (26 pbar [ك]) have very thin atmospheres, but still enough to have collisions between atmospheric molecules. Other planetary-mass moons only have exospheres at most.[27] Exospheres have been detected around Earth's Moon, Europa, Ganymede,[27] Enceladus,[28] Dione,[29] and Rhea.[30] An exosphere around Titania is a possibility, though it has not been confirmed.[31]
See also
Further reading
- Moons Are Planets: Scientific Usefulness Versus Cultural Teleology in the Taxonomy of Planetary Science, Philip T. Metzger, William M. Grundy, Mark Sykes, S. Alan Stern, James F. Bell III, Charlene E. Detelich, Kirby D. Runyon, Michael Summers, 22 Oct 2021
References
- ^ "Should Large Moons Be Called 'Satellite Planets'?". News.discovery.com. 2010-05-14. Archived from the original on 2014-10-25.
- ^ Galileo Galilei (1989). Siderius Nuncius. Albert van Helden. University of Chicago Press. p. 26.
- ^ Christiani Hugenii (Christiaan Huygens) (1659). Systema Saturnium: Sive de Causis Miradorum Saturni Phaenomenon, et comite ejus Planeta Novo. Adriani Vlacq. pp. 1–50.
- ^ Giovanni Cassini (1673). Decouverte de deux Nouvelles Planetes autour de Saturne. Sabastien Mabre-Craniusy. pp. 6–14.
- ^ Cassini, G. D. (1686–1692). "An Extract of the Journal Des Scavans. On April 22 st. N. 1686. Giving an Account of Two New Satellites of Saturn, Discovered Lately by Mr. Cassini at the Royal Observatory in Paris". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. 16 (179–191): 79–85. Bibcode:1686RSPT...16...79C. doi:10.1098/rstl.1686.0013. JSTOR 101844.
- ^ William Herschel (1787). An Account of the Discovery of Two Satellites Around the Georgian Planet. Read at the Royal Society. J. Nichols. pp. 1–4.
- ^ See primary citations in Timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their moons
- ^ Smith, Asa (1868). Smith's Illustrated Astronomy. Nichols & Hall. p. 23.
secondary planet Herschel.
- ^ "Should Large Moons Be Called 'Satellite Planets'?". News.discovery.com. May 14, 2010. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
- ^ Basri, Gibor; Brown, Michael E. (2006). "Planetesimals to Brown Dwarfs: What is a Planet?" (PDF). Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 34: 193–216. arXiv:astro-ph/0608417. Bibcode:2006AREPS..34..193B. doi:10.1146/annurev.earth.34.031405.125058. S2CID 119338327. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 31, 2013.
- ^ أ ب ت ث ج Hussmann, Hauke; Sohl, Frank; Spohn, Tilman (November 2006). "Subsurface oceans and deep interiors of medium-sized outer planet satellites and large trans-Neptunian objects". Icarus. 185 (1): 258–273. Bibcode:2006Icar..185..258H. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.06.005.
- ^ Emily Lakdawalla et al., What Is A Planet? Archived 2022-01-22 at the Wayback Machine The Planetary Society, 21 April 2020
- ^ Williams, Matt. "A geophysical planet definition". Phys.org. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
- ^ أ ب ت Nimmo, Francis; et al. (2017). "Mean radius and shape of Pluto and Charon from New Horizons images". Icarus. 287: 12–29. arXiv:1603.00821. Bibcode:2017Icar..287...12N. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2016.06.027. S2CID 44935431.
- ^ Planetary Science Decadal Survey Community White Paper, Ganymede science questions and future exploration Archived 2022-01-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ أ ب ت ث ج ح خ د P.C. Thomas (2010) 'Sizes, shapes, and derived properties of the Saturnian satellites after the Cassini nominal mission' Archived 2018-12-23 at the Wayback Machine, Icarus 208: 395–401
- ^ Leliwa-Kopystyński, J.; Kossacki, K. J. (2000). "Evolution of porosity in small icy bodies". Planetary and Space Science. 48 (7–8): 727–745. doi:10.1016/S0032-0633(00)00038-6.
- ^ Schenk, Paul; Buratti, Bonnie; Clark, Roger; Byrne, Paul; McKinnon, William; Matsuyama, Isamu; Nimmo, Francis; Scipioni, Francesca (2022). "Red Streaks on Tethys: Evidence for Recent Activity". copernicus.org. Europlanet Science Congress 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
- ^ أ ب ت Szakáts, R.; Kiss, Cs.; Ortiz, J. L.; Morales, N.; Pál, A.; Müller, T. G.; et al. (November 2022). "Tidally locked rotation of the dwarf planet (136199) Eris discovered from long-term ground-based and space photometry". Astronomy & Astrophysics. arXiv:2211.07987. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245234. S2CID 253522934.
- ^ Most figures are from the NASA/JPL list of Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters Archived 2019-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, apart from the masses of the Uranian moons, which are from Jacobson (2014).
- ^ Durante, Daniele; Hemingway, D. J.; Racioppa, P.; Iess, L.; Stevenson, D. J. (2019). "Titan's gravity field and interior structure after Cassini" (PDF). Icarus. 326: 123–132. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2019.03.003. hdl:11573/1281269. S2CID 127984873. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ Castillo-Rogez, J. C.; et al. (2011). "How differentiated is Callisto" (PDF). 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference: 2580. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- ^ Garrick-Bethell, I.; Wisdom, J; Zuber, MT (4 August 2006). "Evidence for a Past High-Eccentricity Lunar Orbit". Science. 313 (5787): 652–655. Bibcode:2006Sci...313..652G. doi:10.1126/science.1128237. PMID 16888135. S2CID 317360.
- ^ W.M. Grundy, K.S. Noll, M.W. Buie, S.D. Benecchi, D. Ragozzine & H.G. Roe, 'The Mutual Orbit, Mass, and Density of Transneptunian Binary Gǃkúnǁʼhòmdímà ((229762) 2007 UK126)', Icarus (forthcoming, available online 30 March 2019) Archived 7 أبريل 2019 at the Wayback Machine DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2018.12.037,
- ^ Grundy, W.M.; Porter, S.B.; Benecchi, S.D.; Roe, H.G.; Noll, K.S.; Trujillo, C.A.; Thirouin, A.; Stansberry, J.A.; Barker, E.; Levison, H.F. (2015). "The mutual orbit, mass, and density of the large transneptunian binary system Varda and Ilmarë". Icarus. 257: 130–138. arXiv:1505.00510. Bibcode:2015Icar..257..130G. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.04.036. S2CID 44546400.
- ^ Calculated at 0.02246x10^21 kg on the assumption that Varda and Ilmarë have the same density
- ^ أ ب A Moon with Atmosphere Archived 2022-02-08 at the Wayback Machine, Emily Lakdwalla, The Planetary Society (8 April 2015)
- ^ Dougherty, M. K.; Khurana, K. K.; et al. (2006). "Identification of a Dynamic Atmosphere at Enceladus with the Cassini Magnetometer". Science. 311 (5766): 1406–9. Bibcode:2006Sci...311.1406D. doi:10.1126/science.1120985. PMID 16527966. S2CID 42050327.
- ^ Ghosh, Pallab (2 March 2012). "Oxygen envelops Saturn's icy moon". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
- ^ Teolis, B. D.; Jones, G. H.; Miles, P. F.; Tokar, R. L.; Magee, B. A.; Waite, J. H.; Roussos, E.; Young, D. T.; Crary, F. J.; Coates, A. J.; Johnson, R. E.; Tseng, W. - L.; Baragiola, R. A. (2010). "Cassini Finds an Oxygen-Carbon Dioxide Atmosphere at Saturn's Icy Moon Rhea". Science. 330 (6012): 1813–1815. Bibcode:2010Sci...330.1813T. doi:10.1126/science.1198366. PMID 21109635. S2CID 206530211.
- ^ Widemann, T.; Sicardy, B.; Dusser, R.; Martinez, C.; Beisker, W.; Bredner, E.; Dunham, D.; Maley, P.; Lellouch, E.; Arlot, J. -E.; Berthier, J.; Colas, F.; Hubbard, W. B.; Hill, R.; Lecacheux, J.; Lecampion, J. -F.; Pau, S.; Rapaport, M.; Roques, F.; Thuillot, W.; Hills, C. R.; Elliott, A. J.; Miles, R.; Platt, T.; Cremaschini, C.; Dubreuil, P.; Cavadore, C.; Demeautis, C.; Henriquet, P.; et al. (February 2009). "Titania's radius and an upper limit on its atmosphere from the September 8, 2001 stellar occultation" (PDF). Icarus. 199 (2): 458–476. Bibcode:2009Icar..199..458W. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2008.09.011.