Top Five Most Amazing Moons in Solar System

There are countless moons in our Solar system orbiting their respective planets. Some of these moons are created with some amazingly unique features. Here is given brief information about top five most amazing moons in Solar system.  Enjoy the read…

1.        Ganymede, Jupiter

With a diameter of 5,268 km, Ganymede is the biggest moon in our solar system.  It was discovered by Galileo Galilei in January 1610. It is composed of almost identical amounts of silicate rock and water ice and it has an iron-rich, liquid core. Thanks to this molten iron core, the Ganymede manages to produce its own magnetic field which is its unique property. The meager magnetic-field is then buried in Jupiter’s bigger magnetosphere. A sheer atmosphere of Oxygen had also been found around the moon in the year 1996, but it’s too thin to support life.

2.       Triton, Neptune

Discovered by William Lassell in October 1846, Triton is the largest moon of Neptune. It was discovered just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune.  The unique thing about Triton is that it is the only large moon in the solar system which orbits in the opposite direction of its planet’s rotation. The retrograde orbiting suggests that it’s a captured moon because all natural satellites in the solar system move around the planet in the same direction. Moreover, Triton is one of the few geologically active moons in the Solar System.

3.       Titan, Saturn

Titan, the only object besides earth with probe land on its surface, is the largest moon of Saturn and second largest of entire solar system. It is only 2% smaller than Ganymede, the largest moon in solar system. It’s the only place in our solar system having a dense atmosphere largely composed of methane, ethane and hydrogen. Furthermore, Titan is also known to have liquids on its surface; however, these liquids are methane, not water.

4.       Io, Jupiter

A bit bigger than moon of earth, Io was also discovered by Galileo Galilei in January 1610 and is the 4^th largest moon in our solar system. There are around 400 active volcanoes over Io and hence it is known to be the most volcanically active place in solar system. Its diameter is 3,642 kilometres and it is the innermost of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons.

5.       Enceladus, Saturn

Saturn’s sixth largest moon Enceladus is the last on our list of top five most amazing moons in solar system. Its discovery is credited to William Herschel who discovered it in 1789. It reflects about 100 percent of the sunlight that hits its surface and thus is considered the brightest body in the solar system. Reflection of 100% sunlight also makes Enceladus extremely cold. While it has a few craters, but some other crater-free regions are also there, which indicate major resurfacing events in the geologically recent past.

Top Five Most Amazing Moons in Solar System