Jupiter has 63 moons at the last count, but some of these may not be proper moons, but captured asteroids.
In our Solar System, Jupiter has the most moons with 63.
8 of Jupiter's 63+ moons are large and fairly spherical, indicating that they may have formed around the planet during the creation of the solar system. Most of the others are in very irregular orbits that suggest they are asteroids captured by Jupiter's gravity (especially from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter).
In our solar system, the planet Jupiter has the most (63) confirmed moons, though that # may go up in the future after closer observations of Jupiter.
Jupiter has the most moons, 63. Exactly? Let's see, what day is this today? As of last count at nineplanets.org, there are 63 moons of Jupiter. However, more are being discovered every time we send a space probe there, so there may be a dozen or more that haven't been seen yet. For years, the count was "12", based on Earth-bound telescopes, but between the Hubble, the Voyager probes and the recent flyby missions, we have discovered smaller and smaller moons that had been beneath notice. It seems likely that there are a great many tiny moons of the outer planets that have not yet been catalogued.
Jupiter's moons are very different in size and composition. For example, Europa is composed primarily of ice. Io contains sulfur and many volcanoes. Ganymede has its own magnetic field, while Calisto is full of craters.
Jupiter has 67 moons it has the most number of moons in the solar system.
In our Solar System, Jupiter has the most moons with 63.
None. Io is itself one of the moons of the planet Jupiter. No moon has its own moons.
8 of Jupiter's 63+ moons are large and fairly spherical, indicating that they may have formed around the planet during the creation of the solar system. Most of the others are in very irregular orbits that suggest they are asteroids captured by Jupiter's gravity (especially from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter).
In our solar system, the planet Jupiter has the most (63) confirmed moons, though that # may go up in the future after closer observations of Jupiter.
Jupiter has the most moons, 63. Exactly? Let's see, what day is this today? As of last count at nineplanets.org, there are 63 moons of Jupiter. However, more are being discovered every time we send a space probe there, so there may be a dozen or more that haven't been seen yet. For years, the count was "12", based on Earth-bound telescopes, but between the Hubble, the Voyager probes and the recent flyby missions, we have discovered smaller and smaller moons that had been beneath notice. It seems likely that there are a great many tiny moons of the outer planets that have not yet been catalogued.
Generally, the larger or more massive the planet, the more moons it may have. Jupiter and Saturn are the largest and most massive and have over 60 moons each.
Galileo was able to see only Jupiter's largest moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, because these moons are the largest and brightest of Jupiter's many satellites. Their size and brightness made them visible using the relatively primitive telescope technology available to Galileo in the 17th century. Smaller moons may have been too faint to be seen with his telescopes.
Jupiter's moons are very different in size and composition. For example, Europa is composed primarily of ice. Io contains sulfur and many volcanoes. Ganymede has its own magnetic field, while Calisto is full of craters.
The planet Jupiter has the most known moons of any planet in our solar system, with 63 (as of 2011). Saturn has 62 known and named moons, but may have more depending on the classification of the many small bodies within its ring system.
At last count Jupiter had a whopping 63 moons! It's four largest moons are called the Galilean satellites, after Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, who observed them in 1610. The German astronomer Simon Marius claimed to have seen the moons around the same time, but he did not publish his observations and so Galileo is given the credit for their discovery. These large moons, named Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, are each distinctive worlds.
Uranus has 27 known moons, making it the planet in our solar system with the most moons. There is a possibility that more undiscovered moons may be orbiting Uranus.