Our solar system is a beautifully intriguing place. It has millions of stars, asteroids, planets and moons. These celestial bodies are still strange and mysterious to us, despite knowing a lot about them. Most of us humans on earth still perceive the word ‘moon’ with earth’s moon only, regardless of knowing the fact that there are 166 known moons in our solar system. Apart from mercury and Venus, every planet has its own moons, with earth having a single moon, Mars 2, Jupiter 63, Saturn 60, Uranus 27 and Neptune 13. All these moons have their own physical features and special characteristics. However, there are still a few that deserve a place in the “top 10 moons in the solar system”. Here are our picks for the best moons in our solar system that are some of the best celestial bodies in the cosmos!
1. Nereid – Neptune
As you read in the introduction, Neptune has 13 moons. The third biggest moon is named Nereid or Neptune II. The reason why it is the first moon in this list of the top 10 moons in our solar system is because it is known to have the most ‘eccentric’ orbit out of all the 166 moons. It was discovered on the 1st of May in 1949 by Gerald Kuiper. Because of the weird orbit, the distance between Neptune and Nereid varies at different periods. When they are closest, their distance is 841100 miles, whereas the highest distance is 5980200 miles.
2. Dactyl – Ida Asteroid
The next moon in this list is an odd one out. While all the other moons in this list orbit a planet, Dactyl orbits Ida, which is a potato shaped asteroid. Dactyl’s diameter is even less than a mile. Discovered in 1993, it was the first moon that had been discovered orbiting an asteroid. It was also the first natural satellite of the celestial body like an asteroid to be photographed.
Fun fact: The name Dactyl was derived from ‘Dactyli’ which are a group of mythological beings that lives on Mount Ida.
3. Iapetus – Saturn
Labelled as one of the strangest moons in the solar system, Iapetus is one of Saturn’s moon, which was discovered by Giovanni Cassini in 1671. It is very close to the planet, just 914 miles across it. The characteristic that makes it the strangest moon in the history is the difference in its colour and reflectivity. One half of the moon is dark like a coal while the other half is exceptionally bright. Sometimes, astronomers even call it a ‘yin-yang’ moon.
4. Europa – Jupiter
The first moon of Jupiter, is Europa, was discovered in January 1610 by Galileo Galilei. When it comes to size, it is just a little small than one moon. The moon is truly striking, with dark lines all over it. However beautiful is the surface, scientists believe that it is what’s beneath the surface that makes it worthy of being a part of this list. Under the 62 mile of thick ice crust is a salty ocean, which covers the surface of the celestial body.
5. Enceladus – Saturn
Enceladus is the 6th largest moon of the planet Saturn. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1789 and is till date the brightest object on our solar system. It reflects back almost all the sunlight that hits the surface, which makes the moon’s temperature around -330°F that is extremely cold. The surface of the moon is quite interesting as well, with carters (holes) in some regions and dark cracks known as tiger strips in the south polar regions. You can easily call it the prettiest moon in our solar system.
6. Io – Jupiter
Another moon discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610 is Io, which is the next moon in our list. Io is larger than our moon, but just by a little. It is one of the most active volcanic places in the solar system. The surface is riddles with volcanos that spew volcanic matter 190 miles above the land. Under normal circumstances, Io should have been inactive a long time ago due to various reasons, however, due to the orbital resonance Io is in with Europa, Jupiter and Ganymede, the subsurface is in molten form.
7. Titan – Saturn
The next moon in our list is Titan, whose parent planet is Saturn. Besides Earth, it is the only moon that has its own probe land on it. It was discovered by Christian Huygens in 1655 and became the 2nd largest moon in the solar system. The moon is famous because it is the only one to have an atmosphere just like a planet with clouds. It’s atmosphere mostly has methane, nitrogen and ethane.
8. Triton – Neptune
Merely 17 days after Neptune was discovered, its largest moon – Triton was also discovered in October 1846 by astronomer William Lassell. It is definitely one of the strangest moons in our solar system. Unlike any other moon, Triton has a retrograde orbit, which means that it orbits in the opposite direction than the primary object, which is Neptune. It was found during the Voyager 2 mission that Triton is one of the coldest objects in the cosmos, with recorded temperature -391°F. The voyager also found geysers on the surface, making it one of a kind.
9. Ganymede – Jupiter
Ganymede hits the second last spot in our list and is the largest moon in the solar system. If you compare its size to others, it is larger than Mercury and third the size of Mars. Scientist would have considered it a planet if it did not orbit Jupiter. It was discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610, just like all the other moons of Jupiter. The unique feature about Ganymede is that it has its own magnetic field. The Hubble also found a thin layer of oxygen in its atmosphere.
10. Luna – Earth
Last but definitely not the least, is the Earth’s moon. Not many know that our moon’s name is actually Luna. It is also the fifth-largest moon in our solar system. It is earth’s only natural satellite that helps stabilize our planet’s climate. It is almost made up of exactly the same materials as earth and is 385000 km away from its surface. It also had active volcanoes at one point of time in space history and currently has approximately 158 gallons of water near its surface.
