Saturday, May 3, 2014

How Many Moons Does Venus Have?

How Many Moons Does Venus Have?:

A radar view of Venus taken by the Magellan spacecraft, with some gaps filled in by the Pioneer Venus orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL

A radar view of Venus taken by the Magellan spacecraft, with some gaps filled in by the Pioneer Venus orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL
There are dozens upon dozens of moons in the Solar System, ranging from airless worlds like Earth’s Moon to those with an atmosphere (most notably, Saturn’s Titan). Jupiter and Saturn have many moons each, and even Mars has a couple of small asteroid-like ones. But what about Venus, the planet that for a while, astronomers thought about as Earth’s twin?

The answer is no moons at all. That’s right, Venus (and the planet Mercury) are the only two planets that don’t have a single natural moon orbiting them. Figuring out why is one question keeping astronomers busy as they study the Solar System.

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Read the rest of How Many Moons Does Venus Have? (419 words)




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