this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2025
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Astronomy

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Slut.

Try not to grab another moon on your way through the parking lot!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

What, having the best rings wasn't good enough for Saturn? Gosh, how greedy. /s

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 day ago

*"Newly identified moons" I'm pretty sure they've been there for a while.

Having 128 new moons would really be noteworthy!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

"Did you bring enough to share with the whole class?"

the class:

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago

Perhaps when they become fully operational battle stations?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

Jupiter excitedly pointing out this news to Juno

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is a great question. It's like asking when a rock is too small to be a planet. I suspect there were be a definition eventually that mirrors the planetary definition -- something like "spherical(ish) and clears its orbit". The issue is that Mars would lose its two moons under that definition.

So we might end up with something like "moons" vs "natural satellites" and Mars will just have to suck it up.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

Moons vs. dwarf moons? (Sounds like a fantasy novel series.)