2006-08-31 15:20:48 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Maybe the question was confusing... what I meant to ask is "if the Moon had a satellite revolving around it, would its satellite beconsidered a "moon" since it's not rotating around a planet"... God, I think I confused myself that time
2006-08-31 15:44:21 · update #1
isn't the moon a satellite?
2006-08-31 15:26:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually by the standards and definitions used in the astronomical society, there is only one moon in our solar system and that is the earth's Moon. All other planets have satellites. So, by using the definitions of the words in your question, a satellite orbiting anything else besides the earth is a satellite--and would probably be given a name like Titan, Europa, Io, etc
2006-09-01 01:11:46 · answer #2 · answered by quntmphys238 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One thing to understand is that this is impossible, If there was a satellite orbiting the Moon, it would be ripped out of its' orbit by the Earth's gravity.
Same with other planets. So a satellite of a planet can't have a satellite of its' own.
Which is why the question has no answer. It just can't happen.
2006-09-01 02:42:16 · answer #3 · answered by Bob 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it will be still a moon. Anyway I read somewhere (I don't know where) that the moon can never have a satellite that lasts for more than a decade (I can't remember why).
2006-09-01 04:45:48 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I got exactly what you were saying but I don't think so. A natural satallite (or moon, which you probably know is just the name of Earth's natural satallite) is defined as a non-man-made object orbiting a planet.
It would be a satallite of the Moon, but since the Moon is not a planet...
****,
anyway back to the question, as long as the moon is not a planet, its satallites are not "natural satallites" aka "moons".
2006-09-01 00:33:37 · answer #5 · answered by iMi 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think that they defined this occurrence. Probably it would be called a moon. It might also be called a companion, depending on its orbit. In fact Earth does have a companion, called Cruithne. This asteroid is in a complicated orbit around the Sun that stays near the Earth and Moon. So, I guess there are actually 3 bodies in our little Earth-System.
2006-08-31 22:53:01 · answer #6 · answered by China Jon 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the Moon had a Moon, that's interesting.
One day we may discover that.
Hey, are PHOBOS and DEMOS really moons or just trapped asteroids!
Maybe it's time Astronomy demoted those guys as well!
2006-08-31 23:51:20 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
See the site:
www.nasa.gov
You can get more information on What a planet is? and how does natural satellites help in deciding whether a body is planet?
2006-08-31 22:39:28 · answer #8 · answered by gitanjli 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Objects still exist despite out futile efforts to properly define some of them. It´s sometimes like the half-full, half-empty glass, which one is it? And by whose standards?
If you were standing in, say, Colorado, and suddenly the Earth exploded (a huge asteroid, what have you) and you went flying on 4 sq ft of floor, right into outer space....what is then "Colorado"? What is a place? Can a place actually "disappear"?
2006-08-31 23:29:10 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes
2006-09-01 00:25:50 · answer #10 · answered by bprice215 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋