Major Moon
A planetary-mass moon is a planetary-mass object. They are large and ellipsoidal (sometimes spherical) in shape. Moons may be in hydrostatic equilibrium due to tidal or radiogenic heating, in some cases forming a subsurface ocean. Two moons in the Solar System, Ganymede and Titan, are larger than the planet Mercury, and a third, Callisto, is just slightly smaller than it, although all three are less massive. Additionally, seven – Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, Io, Luna, Europa, and Triton – are larger and more massive than the dwarf planets and . The concept of ''satellite planets'' – the idea that all planetary-mass objects, including 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). This conceptualization of planets as three classes of objects (classical planets, dwarf ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Large Moons (4089199369)
Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (or both) * Large diffeomorphism, a diffeomorphism that cannot be continuously connected to the identity diffeomorphism in mathematics and physics * Large numbers, numbers significantly larger than those ordinarily used in everyday life * Large ordinal, a type of number in set theory * Large sieve, a method of analytic number theory ** Larger sieve, a heightening of the large sieve * Law of large numbers, a result in probability theory * Sufficiently large, a phrase in mathematics Other uses * ''Large'' (film), a 2001 comedy film * Large (surname), an English surname * LARGE, an enzyme * Large, a British English name for the maxima (music), a note length in mensural notation * Large, or G's, or grand, slang for $1,000 US dollars * Large, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and development through global cooperation. It was founded on 28 July 1919 in Brussels, Belgium and is based in Paris, France. The IAU is composed of individual members, who include both professional astronomers and junior scientists, and national members, such as professional associations, national societies, or academic institutions. Individual members are organised into divisions, committees, and working groups centered on particular subdisciplines, subjects, or initiatives. the Union had 85 national members and 12,734 individual members, spanning 90 countries and territories. Among the key activities of the IAU is serving as a forum for scientific conferences. It sponsors nine annual symposia and holds a triannual General Assembly that sets policy ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Planemo
A planetary-mass object (PMO), planemo, or planetary body (sometimes referred to as a world) is, by geophysical definition of celestial objects, any celestial object massive enough to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium, but not enough to sustain core fusion like a star. The purpose of this term is to classify together a broader range of celestial objects than 'planet', since many objects similar in geophysical terms do not conform to conventional expectations for a planet. Planetary-mass objects can be quite diverse in origin and location. They include planets, dwarf planets, planetary-mass satellites and free-floating planets, which may have been ejected from a system ( rogue planets) or formed through cloud-collapse rather than accretion ( sub-brown dwarfs). Usage in astronomy While the term technically includes exoplanets and other objects, it is often used for objects with an uncertain nature or objects that do not fit in one specific class. Cases in which the term is oft ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Timeline Of Discovery Of Solar System Planets And Their Moons
The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object is listed in chronological order of its discovery (multiple dates occur when the moments of imaging, observation, and publication differ), identified through its various designations (including temporary and permanent schemes), and the discoverer(s) listed. Historically the naming of moons did not always match the times of their discovery. Traditionally, the discoverer enjoys the privilege of naming the new object; however, some neglected to do so ( E. E. Barnard stated he would "defer any suggestions as to a name" or Amalthea"until a later paper" but never got around to picking one from the numerous suggestions he received) or actively declined ( S. B. Nicholson stated "Many have asked what the new satellites ysithea and Carmeare to be named. They will be known only by the numbers X and XI, written in Roman numerals, and us ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oberon (moon)
Oberon , also designated , is the outermost and second-largest major moon of the planet Uranus. It is the second-most massive of the Uranian moons, and the tenth-largest moon in the Solar System. Discovered by William Herschel in 1787, Oberon is named after the mythical king of the fairies who appears as a character in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. Its orbit lies partially outside Uranus's magnetosphere. Oberon likely formed from the accretion disk that surrounded Uranus just after the planet's formation. The moon consists of approximately equal amounts of ice and rock, and is probably differentiated into a rocky core and an icy mantle. A layer of liquid water may be present at the boundary between the mantle and the core. The surface of Oberon, which is dark and slightly red in color, appears to have been primarily shaped by asteroid and comet impacts. It is covered by numerous impact craters reaching 210 km in diameter. Oberon possesses a system of ' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Titania (moon)
Titania (), also designated Uranus III, is the largest moon of Uranus. At a diameter of it is the List of natural satellites by diameter, eighth largest moon in the Solar System, with a surface area comparable to that of Australia. Discovered by William Herschel in 1787, it is named after the Titania (A Midsummer Night's Dream), queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. Its orbit lies inside Uranus's magnetosphere. Titania consists of approximately equal amounts of ice and rock (geology), rock, and is probably differentiated into a rocky core (geology), core and an icy mantle (geology), mantle. A layer of liquid water may be present at the core–mantle boundary. Its surface, which is relatively dark and slightly red in color, appears to have been shaped by both impacts and endogenic processes. It is covered with numerous impact craters reaching up to in diameter, but is less heavily cratered than Oberon (moon), Oberon, outermost of the five large mo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dione (moon)
Dione (), also designated Saturn IV, is the fourth-largest moon of Saturn. With a mean diameter of 1,123 km and a density of about 1.48 g/cm3, Dione is composed of an icy mantle and crust overlying a silicate rocky core, with rock and water ice roughly equal in mass. Its trailing hemisphere is marked by large cliffs and scarps called chasmata; the trailing hemisphere is also significantly darker compared to the leading hemisphere. The moon was discovered by Italian astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1684 and is named after the Titaness Dione in Greek mythology. Dione was first imaged up-close by the ''Voyager 1'' space probe in 1980. Later, the '' Cassini'' spacecraft made multiple flybys of Dione throughout the 2000s and 2010s as part of its campaign to explore the Saturn system. Name Giovanni Domenico Cassini named the four moons he discovered ( Tethys, Dione, Rhea, and Iapetus) '' Sidera Lodoicea'' ("the stars of Louis") to honor king Louis XIV. Cassini ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tethys (moon)
Tethys (), or Saturn III, is the fifth-largest moon of Saturn, measuring about across. It was discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1684, and is named after the titan Tethys of Greek mythology. Tethys has a low density of 0.98 g/cm3, the lowest of all the major moons in the Solar System, indicating that it is made of water ice with just a small fraction of rock. This was confirmed by the spectroscopy of its surface, which identified water ice as the dominant surface material. A further, smaller amount of an unidentified dark material is present as well. The surface of Tethys is very bright, the second-brightest of the moons of Saturn after Enceladus, and neutral in color. Tethys is heavily cratered and cut by a number of large faults and trench-like graben. The largest impact crater, Odysseus, is about 400 km in diameter, whereas the largest graben, Ithaca Chasma, is about 100 km wide and more than 2,000 km long; the two surface features may be re ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rhea (moon)
Rhea () is the second-largest moon of Saturn and the ninth-largest moon in the Solar System, with a surface area that is comparable to the area of Australia. It is the smallest body in the Solar System for which precise measurements have confirmed a shape consistent with hydrostatic equilibrium. Rhea has a nearly circular orbit around Saturn, but it is also tidally locked, like Saturn's other major moons; that is, it rotates with the same period it revolves (orbits), so one hemisphere always faces towards the planet. The moon itself has a fairly low density, composed of roughly three-quarters ice and only one-quarter rock. The surface of Rhea is heavily cratered, with distinct leading and trailing hemispheres. Like the moon Dione, it has high-albedo ice cliffs that appear as bright wispy streaks visible from space. The surface temperature varies between −174 °C and −220 °C. Rhea was discovered in 1672 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini. Since then, it has been visi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Iapetus (moon)
Iapetus () is the outermost of Moons of Saturn, Saturn's large moons. With an estimated diameter of , it is the third-largest moon of Saturn and the List of natural satellites, eleventh-largest in the Solar System. Named after the Titans, Titan Iapetus, the moon was discovered in 1671 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini. A relatively low-density body made up mostly of ice, Iapetus is home to several distinctive and unusual features, such as a striking difference in coloration between its leading hemisphere, which is dark, and its trailing hemisphere, which is bright, as well as a massive Equatorial ridge on Iapetus, equatorial ridge running three-quarters of the way around the moon. History Discovery Iapetus was discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini, an Italian-born French astronomer, in October 1671. This is the first moon that Cassini discovered; the second moon of Saturn to be discovered after Christiaan Huygens spotted Titan (moon), Titan 16 years prior in 1655; and the sixth ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Giovanni Cassini
Giovanni Domenico Cassini (8 June 1625 – 14 September 1712) was an Italian-French mathematician, astronomer, astrologer and engineer. Cassini was born in Perinaldo, near Imperia, at that time in the County of Nice, part of the Savoyard state. He discovered four satellites of Saturn (planet), Saturn and noted the division of its rings, later named the Cassini Division. Cassini was also the first of his family to begin work on the project of creating a topographic map of France. In addition, he also created the first scientific map of the Moon. The Cassini–Huygens, ''Cassini'' space probe, launched in 1997, was named after him and became the fourth to visit Saturn and the first to orbit it. Life Time in Italy Cassini was the son of Jacopo Cassini, a Tuscan, and Giulia Crovesi. In 1648 Cassini accepted a position at the observatory at :it:Panzano, Castelfranco Emilia, Panzano (Castelfranco Emilia), near Bologna, to work with Marquis Cornelio Malvasia, a rich amateur astron ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens, Halen, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , ; ; also spelled Huyghens; ; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who is regarded as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution. In physics, Huygens made seminal contributions to optics and mechanics, while as an astronomer he studied the rings of Saturn and discovered its largest moon, Titan (moon), Titan. As an engineer and inventor, he improved the design of telescopes and invented the pendulum clock, the most accurate timekeeper for almost 300 years. A talented mathematician and physicist, his works contain the first idealization of a physical problem by a set of Mathematical model, mathematical parameters, and the first mathematical and mechanistic explanation of an unobservable physical phenomenon.Dijksterhuis, F.J. (2008) Stevin, Huygens and the Dutch republic. ''Nieuw archief voor wiskunde'', ''5'', pp. 100–10/ref> Huygens first identified the correct la ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |