moons in jupiter or saturn be actually planets??? and just is called moons because they rotate around a planet?
2007-07-27 16:55:29 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
I think so , they act and look like a planet does. I don't care what IAU say, they are very screwed up and uneducated when it comes to what a planet really is . People say ..according to IAU .. like they (IAU) are the boss . IAU is full of crap actually .(nothing to do with the pluto thing either) they just are , always were and always be full of uneducated crap.
2007-07-27 17:09:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Moons are defined as having captive orbits around a qualifying planet.
There is no definition which calls for Moons to be called planets. No matter that any of the Moons would be bigger than some of the planets in the system. None-the-less, lunar-type orbits are oriented around a planet
That's not to say that a binary planet relationship couldn't exist somewhere with two similar planetary masses circling each other while in orbit around a star. But astrophysically speaking, it would be highly unstable.
Tulip needs to read up more on the subject.
2007-07-27 17:09:31 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Several of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn are more than just orbiting space rocks like our moon. They have more complex atmospheric compositions, but their relatively small size, lack of gravitational influence, and the fact the rotate around a planet and not the sun, makes them mere moons and not planets.
2007-07-27 17:00:37 · answer #3 · answered by Adam F 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Maybe at one such time, but not anymore. A conference was held last year which defined a planet as a LARGE object that revolves around the sun. If the object is revolving around a planet, then it no longer classifies as a planet, but a moon. Jupiter is large enough that it pulls many objects into its gravitational pull. However, a better guess is that they are most likely asteroids, since Jupiter is located just outside the asteroid belt.
2007-07-27 17:26:14 · answer #4 · answered by Lindsay O 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The IAU defines a "moon" as an object orbiting a planet.
And it defines a planet as an object that orbits the sun and doesn't orbit another body.
So by these definitions, the answer is no.
2007-07-27 17:06:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
ya it is so, they are planets but can b called moons coz they rotate around them. They are actually sattelites.
2007-07-27 17:03:19 · answer #6 · answered by tulip 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, some of them are large enough that they might be considered planets if they weren't orbiting other planets.
2007-07-27 16:59:36 · answer #7 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
They are not planets. Pluto is not even a planet anymore.
2007-07-27 16:58:05 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
I like astrogirl's answer, she is right about IAU to the tee.
2007-07-27 17:12:53 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋