Moons of our solar system . Our earth as we all know has a companion , the moon or luna . The moon is more than just a gravitationally bound space rock. It has been a source of many romantic novels and songs. The moon is the reason behind why we’ve tides on our planet. Have you ever wondered how this lovely space rock came into being. Well there are in fact , many theories but the theory most agreed upon is the Giant Impact Hypothesis. According to it, our primitive earth collided with a primitive planet which was about the size of Mars. It was called Theia. The cataclysmic collision resulted in formation of leftover debris cloud that started orbiting our planet. Soon most of the debris came together to form the moon and a part of it fell back on earth. Our moon is responsible for the tilt and wobble in our earth’s axis that causes seasonal changes and drives atmospheric & oceanic circulations. Our moon has also affected our planet’s spin around its axis. During the Apollo missions, we got closer to our natural satellite. We got to know more about lunar geology via samples brought back home by astronauts. Moreover future moon missions like Chandrayaan 1 conducted by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) helped confirm the discovery of water locked in minerals on the moon. ISRO also claimed about the existence of non radioactive helium 3 on the moon (fact check) Moon lacks an atmosphere and its vulnerable to incoming solar radiation and meteor impacts that leave behind a cratered terrain. Our moon’s terrain is a concrete proof of how chaotic our solar system was during the past. Mars the red planet also has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. They have an irregular shape and are thought to be asteroids that were captured by Mars. It was discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. Jupiter, the mighty planet has an enormous gravitational force that captures most of the space rocks. The great Italian astronomer Galileo Galilee discovered the four mighty moons of Jupiter viz Io , Europa , Ganymede and Callisto. Jupiter has 79 moons in total. When Voyager 1 was on its grand tour, it visited the mini solar system of Jupiter only to be struck by awe. As it flew past Io, it discovered active volcanoes. Scientists have discovered 150 erupting volcanoes so far and there could be 400 volcanoes. Io is the most volcanically active body in our solar system. It has sulphur in its atmosphere and is very much close to Jupiter as a result of which , the tidal heating and flexing causes Io to have lots of volcanic activity. Europa, the smallest of the four Galilean moons is known to have an icy crust and an underwater ocean beneath the thick crust. Many astrobiologists believe that since much of the harmful radiations emitted by Jupiter is absorbed by the thick ice , life could possibly thrive inside it. Europa also has mysterious stripes in the icy crust (pic of the stripes) that is still unambiguous. Ganymede is the largest moon of the solar system, large enough to overwhelm mercury in size. Ganymede has its own magnetic field and it may have a liquid iron core within it. Callisto has an unaltered , primitive crust battered by meteors. (If u want u can add more info regarding this) Saturn, the crown jewel of our solar system has 82 moons with Titan(2nd largest moon) being the most extensively studied moon. It is believed that Titan has lakes of liquid methane on its surface. The Cassini dropped the Huygens space probe on the surface of Titan and we got to know much about the moon. Titan has a substantial atmosphere with a temperature as low as -179 degrees Celsius. At this temperature water vapour cannot exist. So Titan’s atmosphere is free of water vapour. Titan’s atmosphere has 97% nitrogen and 2.7% methane. The lakes of Titan could possess microbes according to some astrobiologists. Saturn’s moon Enceladus is the most reflective moon in the solar system. Its surface is covered with thick clean water ice. Like europa , Enceladus may have a sub surface ocean of salt water. Uranus has 27 moons all named after the characters that appear in the works of William Shakespeare. They are Umbriel, Titania, Miranda, Oberon and 23 others. Titania is the largest moon of Uranus and the 8th largest moon in the solar system. It was discovered by William Herschel who also discovered Uranus using telescopes. Titania is named after the queen of fairies in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Neptune , the farthest planet from the sun (since Pluto was declared a dwarf planet in 2006). Triton, the largest moon of Neptune has a surface of frozen nitrogen. Triton is geologically complex and has active volcanoes spurring out frozen nitrogen upto 18 miles above the surface. Neptune’s bizarre moon, Triton in the distant future will come critically close to Neptune and as a result the tidal forces will rip the moon apart forming a new ring around it.

• published: 01 May 2020
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