Satellites

Planets in solar system are surrounded by satellites. A satellite is a celestial body that orbits a planet and together with the planet revolves around the sun. There are two kinds of satellites, those are natural and artificial satellites. Natural satellite is a satellite that has naturally existed in the solar system, while artificial satellite is a satellite that is made by human and is designed to move in a path that has been determined and serve a certain purpose, for example to collect and send data or information required. The following explains about natural satellites, while artificial satellites will be discussed later. 

Until now, based on the result of observation and research of astronomers it is known that mercury and venus do not have satellites, the earth has one satellite, Mars has two satellites, Jupiter has 63 satellites, Saturn has 56 satellites, Uranus has 27 satellites, and Neptune has 13 satellites.

1. The Earth’s satellite is the Moon.
2. The satellites of Mars are Phobos and Deimos
3. Several satellites of Jupiter among others are Metis, Ardrastea, Amalthea Thebe, Io, Europa, Ganyimede, Callisto, Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, Elara, Ananke, Carme, Pasiphane, and Sinope. The largest satellite is Ganymede.
4. Some of the satellites of Saturn are 98ISI, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Helena, Titan, Hyperion, Lapetus, Rhea, Phoebe, Janus, Dione Telesto, Mimas, Epimetheus, Enceladus, Tethys, and Calypos. The largest satellite is Titan.
5. Some of the satellites of Uranus are Miranda, Titania, Oberon, Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Potio, Rosalind, Belinda, Puck, Ariel, and Umbriel. The largest satellite is Arial.
6. Some of the satellites of Neptune are Triton, Nereid, 1989N6, 1986N5, 1989N4, 1989N3, 1989N2, and 1989N1.

Note: data about the number of satellites can change any time according to the result of observation of astronomers.

Reference:

Irawan, Etsa Indra dan Sunardi. 2008. Pelajaran IPA-Fisika Bilingual untuk SMP/MTs. Kelas IX. Bandung: CV.Yrama Widya.