Moons of Other Planets

In this article written for Day Six of World Space Week 2019, I write a short piece about the moons of other planets.

Pop quiz: how many moons does Earth have? The answer – one. Next question, how many moons does Saturn have? The answer – as of today, 82! Very recently, scientists have found 20 more new moons around Saturn, making its total moon count 82. Jupiter was the previous record-holder of the most moons in orbit in the Solar System, at 79 moons!

Let’s talk about the other planets, though. Mercury and Venus, the planets closest to the Sun, do not have any moons. Mars has 2, Phobos and Deimos. Uranus has 27, and Neptune has 14 moons. In yesterday’s article, I talked about the future of lunar exploration on our Moon, but what about the future of exploration on other Moons?

One of my all-time favourite moons to speculate about is Saturn’s sixth-largest, Enceladus. It’s mostly known for being covered with ice and the space probe Cassini has found evidence that there may be a huge ocean of liquid water below the ice on Enceladus’ surface. Why is this is a big deal? There is the possibility of life on Enceladus! In addition, finding liquid water on other celestial bodies is always exciting.

Hope you enjoyed, and keep an eye out for tomorrow’s article!