Moons of the Solar System

Question 1

Jovian moon named after the lover of Zeus who was turned into a cow and was (after being restored to humanity) the ancestress of heroes, including Heracles

Answer 1

Io

Question 2

The innermost and larger of the two natural satellites of Mars

Answer 2

Phobos

Question 3

This moon is believed to have a water ocean beneath its surface and is believed to be one of the most likely places to find extraterrestrial life in our Solar System

Answer 3

Europa

Question 4

Jovian moon named after the Trojan hero who was kidnapped by Zeus in the form of an eagle to be cupbearer to the gods

Answer 4

Ganymede

Question 5

Jovian moon named after the mythological figure who was abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull

Answer 5

Europa

Question 6

Moon of Orcus, named after a winged female demon of the Etruscan underworld

Answer 6

Vanth

Question 7

Person credited with discovering Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Mimas and Uranus’s moons Titania and Oberon

Answer 7

Herschel

Question 8

The second-largest moon in the Solar System

Answer 8

Titan

Question 9

The only moon known to have a dense atmosphere

Answer 9

Titan

Question 10

Number of known moons of Jupiter

Answer 10

95

Question 11

The only moon known to have a magnetic field

Answer 11

Ganymede

Question 12

Moon of Mars named for the Greek god who is the son of Ares and Aphrodite and is the personification of terror/dread

Answer 12

Deimos

Question 13

The second-largest of Saturn’s moons; named for the mother of the gods in Greek mythology

Answer 13

Rhea

Question 14

The two missions, launched in 1977 to the outer solar system, that discovered a large number of moons

Answer 14

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2

Question 15

The largest and most massive of the Solar System’s moons

Answer 15

Ganymede

Question 16

The surface of this moon is the oldest and most heavily cratered in the Solar System

Answer 16

Callisto

Question 17

This moon has the smoothest surface of any known solid object in the Solar System

Answer 17

Europa

Question 18

Person credited with discovering Saturn’s moon Titan in 1655

Answer 18

Huygens

Question 19

The only known moon of the dwarf planet Eris; named for the daughter of the goddess Eris who was the personification of lawlessness/anarchy

Answer 19

Dysnomia

Question 20

The second-largest moon of Jupiter

Answer 20

Callisto

Question 21

This dwarf planet’s two known moons, Hiʻiaka and Namaka, are named after Hawaiian goddesses

Answer 21

Haumea

Question 22

The only large moon in the Solar System with a retrograde orbit

Answer 22

Triton

Question 23

The smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter,

Answer 23

Europa

Question 24

A moon of Pluto, named for the dog that guards the Underworld of Greek mythology

Answer 24

Kerberos

Question 25

The smallest of the Plutonian moons, named for a river in the Underworld in Greek mythology

Answer 25

Styx

Question 26

Moon of Mars named for the Greek god who is the son of Ares and Aphrodite and is the personification of fear

Answer 26

Phobos

Question 27

The largest of the Uranian moons; named from a fairy in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

Answer 27

Titania

Question 28

The second-largest of the Uranian moons; named from a fairy in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

Answer 28

Oberon

Question 29

The most geologically active object in the Solar System as a result of tidal heating

Answer 29

Io

Question 30

Planet whose moons are named after characters from the works of Shakespeare and Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock

Answer 30

Uranus

Question 31

The outermost of the Plutonian moons, named for a monstrous serpent of Greek mythology

Answer 31

Hydra

Question 32

First asteroid moon to be discovered, by the Galileo probe in 1993, orbiting Ida; named for the mythological creatures that inhabited Mount Ida

Answer 32

Dactyl

Question 33

Person credited with discovering Neptune's moon Triton just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself; also independently co-discovered Saturn's moon Hyperion and Uranus's moons Ariel and Umbriel.

Answer 33

Lassell

Question 34

The largest of Saturn's moons

Answer 34

Titan

Question 35

The largest of the Neptunian moons; named for a Greek god who was the messenger of the sea and a son of Poseidon

Answer 35

Triton

Question 36

Because of its orbit and composition, this large moon is thought to have been a dwarf planet captured from the Kuiper belt

Answer 36

Triton

Question 37

The smaller and outermost of the two natural satellites of the planet Mars

Answer 37

Deimos

Question 38

Person credited with discovering Jupiter's moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto in 1610

Answer 38

Galileo

Question 39

The innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter

Answer 39

Io

Question 40

The largest of the Plutonian moons

Answer 40

Charon

Question 41

Moon mapped by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft; the Huygens probe landed on the surface

Answer 41

Titan

Question 42

A moon of Pluto, named for the Greek goddess of the night

Answer 42

Nix

Question 43

Person credited with discovering Saturn's moons Iapetus (1671), Rhea (1672), and Tethys and Diona (1684)

Answer 43

Cassini

Question 44

Name of the lander that landed on Titan

Answer 44

Huygens (from the Cassini mission)

Question 45

Person credited with discovering the two small moons of Mars

Answer 45

Hall

Question 46

Moon of Saturn known for its cryovolcanoes which shoot geyser-like jets of water vapor; named for the giant who was the opponent of Athena in Greek mythology

Answer 46

Enceladus

Question 47

First asteroid to have a confirmed moon (Dactyl); named for a nymph from Greek mythology

Answer 47

Ida

Question 48

Jovian moon named after the nymph and follower of Artemis who was seduced by Zeus and transformed by a jealous Hera into a bear (Ursa Major)

Answer 48

Callisto

Question 49

Trans-Neptunian object orbited by the moon Vanth and named for the Etruscan god of the underworld

Answer 49

Orcus

Question 50

The largest of the inner Jovian satellites and the largest and first to be discovered after the Galilean moons; named for the nymph who was the foster mother of Zeus

Answer 50

Amalthea