Moonlet Explained

A moonlet, minor moon, minor natural satellite, or minor satellite is a particularly small natural satellite orbiting a planet, dwarf planet, or other minor planet.

Up until 1995, moonlets were only hypothetical components of Saturn's F-ring structure, but in that year, the Earth passed through Saturn's ring plane. The Hubble Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory both captured objects orbiting close or near the F-ring. In 2004, Cassini caught an object 4–5 kilometers in diameter on the outer ring of the F-ring and then 5 hours later on the inner F-ring, showing that the object had orbited.^[1]

Several different types of small moons have been called moonlets:

• A belt of objects embedded in a planetary ring, especially around Saturn, such as those in the A Ring, S/2009 S 1 in the B Ring ("propeller" moonlets),^{[2] [3]} and those in the F Ring^[4]
• Occasionally asteroid moons, such as those of 87 Sylvia^[5]
• Flashes seen near Jupiter's moon Amalthea that is likely debris ejected from its surface^[6]
• Subsatellites^[7]

See also

• Minor-planet moon
• Natural satellite
• Ring system

Further reading

• Google Book Search for "moonlet"

Links

List of moonlets

Notes and References

1. Othon C. . Winter . Moonlets wandering on a leash-ring . . 2007 . 380 . 1 . L54–L57 . 1 . Mourão . Daniela C. . Giuliatti Winte . Silvia M. . Spahn . Frank . Da Cruz . Christiano . 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2007.00347.x . 2007MNRAS.380L..54W . free . 11449/33832 . free .
2. Matthew S. . Tiscareno . 100-metre-diameter moonlets in Saturn's A ring from observations of 'propeller' structures . . 2006 . 440 . 7084 . 648–650 . 16572165 . 10.1038/nature04581 . 2006Natur.440..648T . 1 . Burns . Joseph A. . Hedman . Matthew M. . Porco . Carolyn C. . Weiss . John W. . Dones . Luke . Richardson . Derek C. . Murray . Carl D. . 9688977 .
3. Miodrag . Sremčević . A belt of moonlets in Saturn's A ring . . 2007 . 449 . 7165 . 1019–1021 . 17960236 . 10.1038/nature06224 . 2007Natur.449.1019S . 1 . Schmidt . Jürgen . Salo . Heikki . Seiß . Martin . Spahn . Frank . Albers . Nicole. 4330204 .
4. Carl D. . Murray . The determination of the structure of Saturn's F ring by nearby moonlets . The Science and Technology Facilities Council . June 5, 2008 . Nature . 18528389 . 10.1038/nature06999 . 453 . 7196 . 739–44 . 1 . Beurle . Kevin . Cooper . Nicholas J. . Evans . Michael W. . Williams . Gareth A. . Charnoz . Sébastien . 2008Natur.453..739M . 205213483 .
5. Franck . Marchis . Discovery of the triple asteroidal system 87 Sylvia . Nature . 436 . 822–24 . 2005 . 2005Natur.436..822M . 10.1038/nature04018 . 16094362 . 7052 . 1 . Descamps . Pascal . Hestroffer . Daniel . Berthier . Jérome . 4412813 .
6. Fieseler P. D. . Adams O. W. . Vandermey N. . Theilig E. E. . Schimmels K. A. . Lewis G. D. . Ardalan S. M. . Alexander C. J. . The Galileo star scanner observations at Amalthea . 2004 . Icarus . 169 . 2 . 390–401 . 10.1016/j.icarus.2004.01.012 . 2004Icar..169..390F.
7. Web site: Can Moons Have Moonlets? Or Rings? Moonlets Of Pluto's Moons? . Science 2.0 . Robert . Walker . 17 April 2015 . 9 April 2016.