One of the ranges of posters will feature moons in our solar system. Our solar system contains hundreds of natural satellites:
mercury - 0
venus - 0
earth - 1
mars - 2
jupiter - 66
saturn -62
uranus - 27
neptune - 13
Most of the major natural satellites of the Solar System have regular orbits, while most of the small natural satellites have irregular orbits. The Earth's Moon is believed to have originated by the collision of two large proto-planetary objects. The material that would have been placed in orbit around the central body is predicted to have reaccreted to form one or more orbiting natural satellites. As opposed to planetary-sized bodies, asteroid moons are thought to commonly form by this process. Triton is another exception; although large and in a close, circular orbit, its motion is retrograde and it is thought to be a captured dwarf planet.
Most regular moons in the Solar System are tidally locked to their respective primaries, meaning that the same side of the natural satellite always faces its planet. The only known exception is Saturn's natural satellite Hyperion, which rotates chaotically because of the gravitational influence of Titan. In contrast, the outer natural satellites of the gas giants are too far away to have become locked.
Of the nineteen known natural satellites in the Solar System that are massive enough to have lapsed into hydrostatic equilibrium, several remain geologically active today. Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System, while Europa, Enceladus, Titan and Triton display evidence of ongoing tectonic activity. In the first three cases, the geological activity is powered by the tidal heating resulting from having eccentric orbits close to their gas giant primaries. Many other natural satellites, such as Earth's Moon, show evidence of past geological activity.
Placing significant moons into categories will be needed in order to assign a print process/finish to the prints. So far I'm thinking these categories could be selected from the following:
- orbital period
- orbital speed
- inclination
- mean radius
- circumference
- mass
- surface gravity
- surface temperature
- apparent magnitude
mercury - 0
venus - 0
earth - 1
mars - 2
jupiter - 66
saturn -62
uranus - 27
neptune - 13
Most of the major natural satellites of the Solar System have regular orbits, while most of the small natural satellites have irregular orbits. The Earth's Moon is believed to have originated by the collision of two large proto-planetary objects. The material that would have been placed in orbit around the central body is predicted to have reaccreted to form one or more orbiting natural satellites. As opposed to planetary-sized bodies, asteroid moons are thought to commonly form by this process. Triton is another exception; although large and in a close, circular orbit, its motion is retrograde and it is thought to be a captured dwarf planet.
Most regular moons in the Solar System are tidally locked to their respective primaries, meaning that the same side of the natural satellite always faces its planet. The only known exception is Saturn's natural satellite Hyperion, which rotates chaotically because of the gravitational influence of Titan. In contrast, the outer natural satellites of the gas giants are too far away to have become locked.
Of the nineteen known natural satellites in the Solar System that are massive enough to have lapsed into hydrostatic equilibrium, several remain geologically active today. Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System, while Europa, Enceladus, Titan and Triton display evidence of ongoing tectonic activity. In the first three cases, the geological activity is powered by the tidal heating resulting from having eccentric orbits close to their gas giant primaries. Many other natural satellites, such as Earth's Moon, show evidence of past geological activity.
Placing significant moons into categories will be needed in order to assign a print process/finish to the prints. So far I'm thinking these categories could be selected from the following:
- orbital period
- orbital speed
- inclination
- mean radius
- circumference
- mass
- surface gravity
- surface temperature
- apparent magnitude
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