Why Does Uranus Have So Many Small Moons?
09/29/2003 Are they chips off old blocks, or what? Several newly-discovered moons around Uranus are puzzling astronomers, reports Astrobiology Magazine. Jack Lissauer explains: The inner swarm of 13 satellites is unlike any other system of planetary moons. The larger moons must be gravitationally perturbing the smaller moons. The region is so crowded that these moons could be gravitationally unstable. So, we are trying to understand how the moons can coexist with each other. He thinks the San Francisco sized rocks are fragments left when a comet hit the moon Belinda, because it is unlikely they would have formed 4 billion years ago and still be around today. This is not the only system with small moons. Every giant planet has a swarm of rocks. Gravitational influences on these small bodies should eject them over time. Planetary scientists admit it s puzzling that so many should exist today (see May 14 headline). Next headline on: Solar System. Next headline on: Dating Methods. SETI: Sc
