Return to Astronomy Index PageTypes of Moons
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A moon is a natural satellite made of rock or ice or both. A moon orbits a planet and not a star. Moons are smaller than the planet they orbit. Moons can orbit at various distance from the home planet. As distance increase from the mother planet the revolution period increase because the moon has to cover more distance through space around the planet. Shepard moons are small moons associated with ring systems around gas giants such as Saturn. These Shepard moons use their weak gravity to shape dust, rock and ice particles into beautiful ring systems around the planet.