A natural satellite is understood to be any celestial body that orbits 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, shiny, opaque and some of them are large. It should be noted that the planets can have different natural satellites, in such a way that the satellite and the planet are held 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 exception 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, Oberón, and Umbriel.
Saturn's satellites have unique characteristics, since their density is very low, they have intense light and their orbital dynamics is not homogeneous (there are coorbital, shepherd, and Trojan satellites). 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 attract the attention of astronomers because of their rarity. Thus, Ganymede has its own magnetic field, Callisto is the one with the largest number of craters, and Epimetheus and Janus revolve around Saturn in the same orbit.
As can be seen, the name of the different celestial bodies is based on Greek and Roman mythology. However, astronomers do not use any mythological denomination but rather try to have a relationship between what the myth represents and the star (for example, Helios represents the Sun, as it 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 emitted radio signals that could be received on Earth.
Currently there are about 2,500 satellites in operation and for scientific, military, meteorological or telecommunication-related purposes. In any case, artificial satellites allow communication between two people located anywhere on the planet.
Photos: Fotolia - AnnaPa / Tigatelu
