![]() ![]() The International Astronomical Union approves an official name when the discovery is confirmed. Moons are given provisional designations such as S/2009 S1, the first satellite discovered at Saturn in 2009. Other Uranian moon names were chosen from Alexander Pope's poetry ( Belinda and Ariel). ![]() Uranus' moons are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays so you’ll find Ophelia and Puck in orbit. Shakespeare’s characters are immortalized in orbit at Uranus. The newest moons discovered at Saturn, for example, are named for Norse gods such as Bergelmir, a giant. Most moons in our solar system are named for mythological characters from a wide variety of cultures. As these planets grew in the early solar system, they were able to capture smaller objects with their large gravitational fields. In the outer solar system, the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune have dozens of moons. Of the terrestrial (rocky) planets of the inner solar system, neither Mercury nor Venus have any moons at all, Earth has one and Mars has its two small moons. They will be given a proper name when their discoveries are confirmed by additional observations. Moons that begin with a letter and a year are considered provisional moons. There are hundreds of moons in our solar system - even a few asteroids have been found to have small companion moons. 10 Things About Our Solar System's Most Marvelous Moons ![]()
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