Why are Venus and Mercury moonless? Nine planets, more than 120 moons, millions of asteroids and other stony objects, and countless comets orbit our Sun. Collectively, they constitute our home in this vast cosmos, the Solar System. Mercury is the planet closest to the sun, followed by Venus, Earth, and Mars. These are the Inner Planets of the Solar System. Each of the planets in our Solar System possesses a distinguishing attribute that is singular to it. Life can grow on Earth, but the acid rain that falls on Venus is very harmful to life. All planets in our Solar System are surrounded by their satellites, or mini-planets, which circle around them in predetermined orbits.
Using Kepler’s laws of motion, the orbits can be identified and separated. The moon is the celestial body closest to Earth. It is Earth’s only natural satellite. The majority of satellites are far smaller than their parent planet. Ganymede, the largest satellite in our Solar System, is the only one of Jupiter’s satellites that is larger than the one orbiting Earth. More than eight to moons orbit Saturn. Uranus has around twenty-seven satellites, while Neptune has approximately fourteen. Even our little neighbor Pluto has five satellites around it. Mercury and Venus, the first two planets in our Solar System, are shockingly devoid of moons. Why, then? Why are the first two planets the only exceptions to this characteristic?
How did the Satellites form?
What exactly are satellites? Before we continue, let’s explore what satellites are and how they are generated. Satellites are celestial objects that circle around something much bigger in space, usually a planet or dwarf planet. However, they can also orbit big, massive celestial things such as planets and asteroid fragments. Scientists use the word “satellite” to describe any object in space with a mass about a thousand times that of its home planet and a known path around it. Not to be confused with the satellites Elon Musk and others are putting into space to improve your Wi-Fi. These satellites are vastly unlike to the one we are discussing. How do satellites originate?
Fundamental methods (Giant Impact and Capture Theory)
This satellite generation is a byproduct of planet formation. It mostly shows up in four ways, but there are probably many more that we don’t know about yet. Through “the Giant Impact,” which is the collision of two or more huge celestial bodies, satellite creation is possible. The most well-known example you may have heard of is our moon. Numerous hypotheses anticipate the formation of our moon. Although the most plausible theory explains the moon’s formation as a result of a collision between the Earth and another planet the size of Mars, ejecting material into space that collided under the influence of their gravity to form our moon, Well, we’ll talk about how people think our moon came to be later, because that’s a completely different topic.
The “Capture Theory” is an additional theory regarding satellite development. This idea came from an American astronomer named Thomas Jefferson, who was thinking about how the moon came to be at the time. This idea outlines the capture of tiny particles that resemble Planetary Satellites but were really produced elsewhere by Large Planets. Most of these satellites don’t have a round shape because they don’t have enough mass to keep that shape.
Saturn’s moon Phoebe is thought to have been taken by the planet for reasons that no one knows. How do satellites originate?
Other methods (condensation theory and fission)
Another idea that explains satellite development is the “Fission Theory,” or “wear and tear theory.” As proposed by the angular momentum conservation theory, if a planet rotates at a very high angular velocity during the early stage of planet formation, when the planet was still in a molten state, there is a high probability that a portion of the planet will be torn apart, leading to the formation of a small satellite.
The ‘Condensation Theory,’ also known as the ‘co-accretion theory,’ is an additional technique of Satellite Formation. When huge gas giant planets like Saturn or Jupiter form, they also leave behind a lot of rocky mass. This leftover material can also come under the effect of its self-gravity, clump together, and eventually consolidate into a satellite.
Similarly, satellites can arise in the early phases of the Solar System’s formation when surplus gas and dust combine under the influence of their gravity to form a tiny planetary satellite. Conditions required for satellites to remain stable. Satellites orbit their home planet in circular paths that may be calculated using the energy equation and Newton’s Laws of Gravity.
Why does Mercury not possess satellites?
Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System, barely larger than the moon. Additionally, it is the planet closest to the Sun. It is named after Mercury, the Roman god of commerce and communication. It takes only 88 Earth days for it to go around the Sun once, which makes it the fastest-spinning planet in our solar system. Because Mercury is so close to the Sun, it couldn’t keep a satellite in a stable orbit around it. In this region, the Sun’s gravitational pull is so powerful that any satellite circling Mercury would be consumed by the Sun within hours.
Therefore, did Mercury ever possess a moon? If there was ever a consequence, it would still be the same. The Sun’s huge gravitational pull on Mercury would make Mercury’s satellite’s orbit very unstable, causing it to slowly move toward the Sun and be eaten by it, which would destroy it. Due to Mercury’s diminutive size in comparison to the sun, it would be almost difficult for it to generate a gravitational field strong enough to keep its moon in a fixed orbit around it.
So, putting a satellite in orbit around Mercury would be the hardest thing to do of all the planets. If we stick to the capture idea, a satellite that was pulled toward Mercury by its gravity would eventually be pulled into a solar orbit and eaten by it. Taking distance into consideration, if a satellite is too far from Mercury, its orbit will not be stable. In contrast, if it is close to Mercury, it may collide with it or collide with the Sun. Mercury will always reach the same conclusion. Because of this, Mercury will continue to go around the Sun by itself, without a friend. Naturally, we’re always here for you, Mercury.
Does the same explanation apply to Venus?
Is Venus unduly Influenced by the Sun’s Tremendous Gravitational Force? Venus, the second planet from the Sun and the third brightest object in the night sky, was named after the Roman goddess of love. Additionally, it is the hottest planet in our solar system. Venus is one of the rarest occurrences among the planets themselves. The lack of a natural satellite in orbit around Venus is due to the fact that no cosmic debris made it to the belt where the Sun’s and Venus’ gravitational pulls were balanced.
Venus may have once had a moon as well. Venus was closer to the Sun than Earth, which caused the moon to move away from its original orbit around the planet. Due to Venus’ close proximity to the Sun, it would be highly uncommon for it to have a moon, as the orbit of the Satellite would coincide with the point of Gravitational Neutrality between Venus and the Sun. So, the sun has a big effect on how likely it is that there is a satellite in orbit around Venus.
How did the planet support satellites?
Even our planet was fortunate enough to own a satellite. Multiple reasons contributed to the survival of our moon. Jupiter’s presence was the most significant of all. Without Jupiter, our moon would have been forced into an orbit around the sun, where it would have been slowly destroyed. The sun’s proximity to Earth is still strong enough to create building-height tides. As we go away from Venus, though, the sun’s presence diminishes.
The moon is the sole natural satellite of the Earth. It is believed to have formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago, shortly after Earth. There are many theories about where the moon came from, but the most common one is that a Mars-sized object crashed into Earth, sending a piece of Earth’s mantle into space. This material eventually became the moon.
How was the Earth able to maintain its Satellite?
The new moon went into orbit around Earth because Earth and the moon both have gravity. Even though the world has changed a lot since then, the moon has stayed pretty much the same. It is believed that the moon’s orbit has expanded with time, but it will continue to orbit the Earth for many billions of years to come. Because the moon keeps things stable, life on Earth has been able to grow and change. Without our dependable satellite, circumstances would be extremely different.
Conclusion
We would never be able to confirm why the first two planets don’t have moons, no matter what kind they are. Is it still possible for Mercury and Venus to possess moons? Moreover, if it is possible, how? What would happen if a huge asteroid collided with either of them right now? Will it, like the Earth, receive a satellite? The universe is enormous. We, as humans, are merely incidental occurrences endowed with a sense of judgment.
