Why are all the moons in the solar system named after Greek and Roman mythology?
355607
No, Titan is a group of gods. The moons of Uranus are named from people in shakespears plays.\n\nAt first, the Greeks and Romans thought the planets were gods, since their positons moved seemingly at their will. So they named them Jupiter, Mars, etc. So the pattern stuck. Most moons and planets are named after mythological figures.\n\nNOTE: Pluto is -not- named after a cartoon dog, but after the mythical god of the underworld.
756478
The 3 new dwarf planets are "Planet X", nicknamed Xena, but now given a new permanent name, Eris (the largest Trans-Neptunian Object, discovered 2003), and two former planets, 1 Ceres (the largest asteroid, discovered 1801) and Pluto (the largest Kuiper Belt Object, discovered 1930).\n\nBoth Ceres and Pluto were hailed as planets on discovery, then felt to be disappointingly small. then realised to be only the first of many such objects in their region of the Solar System. then realised to have nothing especially remarkable about them as compared to other such objects, then getting discovered which might equally lay claim to be planets, if they remained as planets, and then were eventually downgraded and no longer regarded as planets: a process of gradual disillusionment, if you like.\n\nCeres has no moons, Eris has one (Dysnomia) and Pluto has three (Charon Nix and Hydra).\n\nIn Greek Mythology, Dysnomia (lawlessness) was the daughter of Eris (goddess of chaos), Pluto/Hades was the underworld and also the God of the underworld, Charon was the ferryman who took thesouls of the departed across the River Styx that led to the underworld, Hydra was the many-headed fabled monster that guarded the underworld, and Nyx was the Goddess of the Night.
47289
My guess:\n\nIn Roman mythology Pluto is the God of the underworld, which is all cold and dark.  The ninth planet is also cold and dark.  Hence, the name.
547481
Mars is the name of a Greek god, the god of war. Mars has been named after war gods in almost all society's that observed it. \n\nLook up Robert Zubrin, he is an amazing scientist! His book "The Case for Mars" covers his great method for making fuel out of the martian atmosphere. It also contains loads of info on past space missions. Yahoo him or the Mars Society and get some info!
377803
Epimetheus and another of Saturn's moons, Janus orbit very closely to each other (about 50 kilometers), and about every four years they pass close enough to each other that they actually tumble around and switch orbits.\n\nI think Epimetheus is the fifth moon for about 60% of the time, and the other 40% it's actually Janus.
506870
The total number of known moons of Jupiter now stands at 63, the most of any other planet in the Solar System.\n\nUntil 1975 there were 17 known moons, until Themisto was lost.\n\nIn 1999, researchers rediscovered Themisto and found a further 45 The most well known are the Galilean Moons, which are, in order of increasing distance from Jupiter:Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto
1127691
First, forget Sedna.  That is a body smaller than Pluto, and it's not the one most likely to be our 10th planet. The one discovered last year, and which is larger than Pluto, is 2003 UB313, commonly known as Xena (although that is not among the names secretly submitted to the IAU as genuine candidates if the thing becomes a planet).\n\nAll the other planets (excluding Earth) are named after Roman gods, with the exception of Uranus, named after a Greek god.  I think we should go Greek again this time ... and it's about time we had another female besides Venus.\n\nSo I propose 'Nyx' (primoridal Greek goddess of the night, and daughter of Chaos).  The Roman equivalent is 'Nox' (which by the way is where we get 'equinox', meaning "equal-night" ... I learned that on West Wing.)\n\nAnd for the moon, one of Nyx's many children:  Hemera ("day"), Moros ("fate" or "doom"), or one of the three fates (Clotho, Atropos, or Lachesis), and there are many other candidates ... she had lots of children, a few of them with her brother Erebus.  (By the way, Erebus would be another good name (as a constant companion) ... but who knows if we'll discover another moon someday.
88308
It is the red planet because it is red.  I don't know if the planets were given the names first or the Gods, but either way Mars was the God of war, which I am sure is why that God is associated with that planet.
422886
Neptune is the Roman, Greek is Poseidon.  Oceanus is another one.
158060
The moon is known as the moon, but there are also other names given to it such as: Luna by the Romans and Selene and Artemis by the Greeks. It is also known as one of Earth's satellite. It is the second largest object in the sky and orbit 384,400km from the Earth. Its diametre is 3,476km and it has a mass of 7.35kg. As far as I know there are no other name for the earth's moon persay.
1054397
Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, and after Ganymede, the second-largest moon in the Solar System. Discovered by Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch astronomer on March 25th, 1655 about 45 years later than Galielo's discovery of 7th January 1610.\n\nTwo generations later suggests to me that the church did inhibit research. Telescopes existed, and the thought that if Jupiter had moons, then Saturn might have them, too, must have occurred to the astronomers of the day, Perhaps it inhibited publication more than research? Another factor to consider is that Holland was also less under the sway of Roman Catholicism than Italy had been for Galileo.\n\nHuygens named his discovery simply Saturni Luna (Latin for "Saturn's moon", which can also be written Luna Saturni) (De Saturni Luna observatio nova, 1656; XV). Later, Giovanni Domenico Cassini named the four moons he discovered (Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus) Lodoicea Sidera ("the stars of Louis") to honour king Louis XIV.\n\nThe name "Titan" and the names of all seven satellites of Saturn then known come from John Herschel (son of William Herschel, discoverer of Mimas and Enceladus) in his 1847 publication Results of Astronomical Observations made at the Cape of Good Hope, wherein he suggested the names of the Titans, sisters and brothers of Cronos (the Greek Saturn), be used.\n\nJupiter was the Roman equivalent of the Greek Zeus, and Saturn the Roman equivalent of Zeus' father, Cronos (Zeus' mother was Rhea, the name given to another of Saturn's moons).\n\nThe Huygens spacecraft and Cassini probe that explored Titan in 2004 were named after these two astronomers.
326950
Pluto has 3 moons (Charon,S/2005 P1,S/2005 P2)\nVenus has none\nSee all about moons in the solar system in\nhttp://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/our_solar_system/moons_table.html
192499
50 moons are currently confirmed, 34 of which have names. The precise figure will never be certain as the orbiting chunks of ice in Saturn's rings are all technically moons, and it is difficult to draw a distinction between a large ring particle and a tiny moon. Saturn's most noteworthy moon is Titan, the only moon in the solar system to have a dense atmosphere.\n\nThis website for confirmation and more info -->http://www.planetary.org/saturn/moons.html\n\nGod is spelled B-I-G B-A-N-G\nPBrax@netscape.com
62759
January is named for Janus, the god of doors and gateways in Roman mythology.So start of a new year named January
261586
apollo, ares,  hermes, athena, hera, atlas, hercules, uranus, zeus, hades, poseidon, artemis, dionysus, demeter, aphrodite, cupid, morpheus, nike, mercury, helios, adonis,  pluto, iris, thanatos, achilles, eos, phobos, hephaestus, venus, hestia, posiden, odysseus, persephone, titan, neptune, hyperion, leto, pandora.\n\ni know there's more but that's all i can remember
262314
Some of them are named after the guy who invented them or was famous in science\nSuch as Rutherfordium (who invented the electron) Mendelevium (who invented the periodic table). Einsteinium  Some are named after the Greek Gods, such as Uranium (Uranus) Neptunium (king of the sea in Rome) Plutonium (king of the underworld) Europium (Europa who was captured and raped by zeus) Mercury (after the winged messenger)  HOPE THAT HELPS
998637
My favourtie planet is Jupiter because it's the largest and yet made up of a lot of gas. I actually like it because of its moons. The 4 main moons are really cool. It's one moon, Io, is the most active object in our solar system. Also, because it's soo close to Jupiter, as it rotates around it fluctuates thus making it's shape change. The other cool moon, Europa is covered in a thin layer of ice and it is believed to have H2O water underneath that ice which would make it the only other place than earth in our Solar System to have H2O. Ganymede and Callisto are two really cool moons to look at.