A natural satellite is understood to be any celestial body that orbits around a planet. As a general guideline, the satellite is smaller than the planet.
Not all natural satellites are the same, because in fact there are solid, bright, opaque and some of them are large. It should be noted that planets can have different natural satellites, in such a way that the satellite and the planet are kept together through the force of gravitation that acts reciprocally.
Most of the planets in the solar system have at least one natural satellite (Mercury and Venus are the exceptions to this rule).
Natural satellites of the solar system
Planet Earth has only one satellite, the Moon. Instead, Mars has two, Phobos and Deimos. Jupiter is the fifth planet in the solar system and in its orbit there are a total of 64 satellites (Callisto, Io, Ganymede and Europa are the best known). With respect to Uranus, its satellites are Titania, Ariel, Miranda, Oberon, and Umbriel.
Saturn’s satellites have unique characteristics, since their density is very low, they have intense light and their orbital dynamics are not homogeneous (there are coorbital satellites, shepherds, and Trojans). Around Neptune there are a total of 14 satellites, of which Triton is the largest and was discovered in 1846.
In our galaxy, some natural satellites draw astronomers’ attention due to their rarity. Thus, Ganymede has its own magnetic field, Callisto is the one with the largest number of craters, and Epimetheus and Jano revolve around Saturn in the same orbit.
As can be seen, the names of the different celestial bodies are based on Greek and Roman mythology. However, astronomers do not use any mythological denomination but try to establish a relationship between what the myth represents and the star (for example, Helios represents the Sun, since he was in charge of bringing heat and light to Earth). .
In space there are also artificial satellites
Artificial satellites are those created by humans. The first artificial satellite sent into space was Sputnik and it was launched in 1957 in the context of the so-called space race between the Soviet Union and the United States. Sputnik had a telecommunications system that broadcast radio signals that could be received on Earth.
There are currently some 2,500 active satellites for scientific, military, meteorological or telecommunications-related purposes. In any case, artificial satellites make it possible to establish communication between two people located anywhere on the planet.
Photos: Fotolia – AnnaPa / Tigatelu
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