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Space

Physicists work out how many moons Earth could have

Simulations suggest that Earth could theoretically host two more moons the size of the one we've got now, or several smaller moons

By Leah Crane

12 August 2022

Earth could theoretically host two more moons the same size as the current moon. If the extra moons were smaller, it could have even more.

A simulation shows that Earth could host three moon-sized moons

Billy Quarles

Earth could theoretically host two more moons the same size as the current moon. If the extra moons were smaller, our planet could host even more.

The larger planets in our solar system have far more moons than the smaller, rocky worlds – Jupiter has at least 79 moons, whereas Mars has two, Venus has none, and Earth only has the one. Intrigued by this fact, Suman Satyal at the University of Texas at Arlington and his colleagues set out to …

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