What is a Moon?

● A moon is a natural satellite. It orbits planets

and asteroids in our solar system just like a
satellite does.

● There are more than 200 moons in our solar

system. We all know that earth has one moon
and most of the major planets except for
Mercury and Venus have moons.
● Saturn and Jupiter are the biggest planets with the most moons. Jupiter has 53 moons with
names and another 26 that are unnamed, and Saturn 53 confirmed moons and another 29
that are awaiting confirmation, a name and discovery. Even Pluto and other dwarf
systemplanets as well as, asteroids have moons that orbit them.

● Moons come in many shapes, sizes, and types. A few even have atmospheres and hidden
oceans beneath their surfaces.
How are moons created?
● According to NASA scientists, most planetary moons were probably created from the discs of
gas and dust circulating around planets in the early solar system

● Others were created from "captured" objects that formed elsewhere and fell into orbit around
larger worlds
How will it change overtime?
● We don’t really know how moons will
physically change overtime

● What we do know is that the Earth’s moon,

for example, is slowly moving away from the
Earth (about an inch a year) and the moon’s
axis rotation – the imaginary stick around
which the moon spins – has moved by at least
six degrees

● We can also speculate that in the next decade

or so, humans will start to colonize the moon
and will allow scientists to study space in a
way they weren’t able to do on Earth and it
will become a jumping off point for future
space exploration
History of human knowledge of Moons?
● In 1610, Galileo Galilei was the first person to discover that
Earth wasn’t the only planet that had a moon. He saw four
tiny satellites that orbited Jupiter and he named them
Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa. Ever since then, everyone
learned that not everything in space revolved around the
Earth
The 12 new moons of Jupiter,
● The first moon of Saturn out of 65 that we know of was discovered in 2018.
discovered by Christiaan Huygens in 1655

● From that time up until present time, we have been

discovering more and more moons. Mars in 1877, Uranus in
1787, Neptune in 1989, and this past year, they discovered
new moons for Saturn and Jupiter. As of October this year,
there is a mystery mini-moon that is orbiting Earth,
astronomers don’t exactly know if it’s an asteroid or if it’s
space junk The 20 new moons of Saturn,
discovered in 2019.
 Important scientists involved in
the discovery of Moons
● The most important Scientists involved in the discovery of moons are Galileo Galilei,
Christiaan Huygens and G.D Cassini

● Galileo Galilei was the first to discover that Jupiter had moons, and then Christiaan
Huygens was the first to discover that Saturn had a moon, and then G.D Cassini was the
first to discover that Saturn had many more moons

Galileo Galilei Christiaan Huygens G.D Cassini

Important Technology/techniques in
advancing our knowledge of moons
● Some important technologies are the high-powered
telescopes, such as the Subaru telescope in Hawaii,
this observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii is the best
astronomical observing site in the world. There are
around 3 other 8-10 metre class telescopes on the
summit too. Using the Subaru Telescope,
Astromonists have been able to find 20 new moons
that orbit Saturn, making it surpass Jupiter. The telescopes at Mauna Kea

● Space Organizations like NASA have sent out research

probes into space and their purpose is to observe
parts of the Solar System, including planets and
moons. The Huygens probe was sent out to the outer
planets to observe them and their moons, including
Titan. They collect information and send data back to
the organizations for scientists to learn and study.
The Cassini-Huygens probe
Important research projects/space
missions
● NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft observed Saturn and its moons for over a decade. It revealed
what Saturn and its moons were really like, full of storms and wonders. It landed on Titan
in 2005 and it looked pretty habitable, so life can maybe live there one day.\

● In 1979, Space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 made observations on Jupiter’s rings and
also managed to find several new moons and captured the volcanic surface of Io.

● Even though these are meant to explore and find out stuff about the planets, they also find
out about the moons, and discovering new ones too.

The Cassini Spacecraft Voyager 1 Voyager 2

 An explanation of the importance of
understanding the moon in relation to
our life on earth
● Our moon has a big affect on physical life on Earth.
Like the Earth, it has its own gravitational force. The
moon's tidal activity on Earth varies depending on
where the moon is on its rotation around the Earth.
When the ocean tides come in out, this happens in
large part because of the moon. The moon is pulling
the Earth’s water supply towards itself, causing big
tides which are swelling in the direction of the moon.
● This is important because tides affect the reproductive
activities of fish and ocean plants. When the tides
come in, plants and animals ride the currents from one
place to another place, moving them to different parts
of the planet. The tides also help to circulate nutrients
that ocean plants and animals need to survive.
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 References (continued)
Sky & Telescope. 2020. Before Apollo: The Scientists Who Discovered The Moon - Sky & Telescope.
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 References (continued)
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