Why was the moon the first celestial body selected for investigation?

Answer 1

The first four of Jupiter's moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto were discovered by Galileo in 1610. Since then 59 additional moons have been discovered, the last, designated J23, was discovered in 2003.

Answer 2

Before the advent of telescopic Photography, eight moons of Saturn were discovered by direct observation using an optical telescope. Saturn's largest moon, Titan, was discovered in 1655 by Christiaan Huygens. Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus (the "Sidera Lodoicea") were discovered 1671-1684 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini. William Herschel discovered Mimas and Enceladus in 1789. Hyperion was discovered 1848 by W.C. Bond, G.P. Bond and Lassell.

The use of long-exposure photographic plates made it possible to discover additional moons. The first to be discovered in this manner, Phoebe, was found in 1899 by W.H. Pickering. In 1966, the satellites Janus and Epimetheus were observed, but not confirmed, and it was not realized that there were two distinct moons sharing an orbit.

Answer 3

Saturn has over 60 confirmed moons, there may well be even more than this still to be discovered. Titan is the largest of Saturns moons and was the first to be discovered in 1655. Iapetus, Rhea, Dione and Tethys are quite large, over 1000km in diameter, and were the next to be discovered in 1671, 1672, 1684 and 1684 respectively. Enceladus and Mimas were discovered in 1789, Hyperon in 1848 and Pheobe in 1899. The remaining smaller moons were then discovered from the various probes that were sent to Saturn, chiefly Voyager 2 and the Cassini-Huygens space vehicles.

Answer 4

The study of astronomy was begun by the ancient Babylonians and Sumerians, and continued by the Egyptians and the Greeks. Much of the earliest work may have been closer to Astrology than what we consider to be astronomy. But nearly every culture on earth at least watched what happened in the skies.

Certainly, the neolithic monument at Stonehenge, circa 1500BCE, show an amazing understanding of astronomy. The entire site is oriented toward the sunrise on the summer solstice, and the Aubrey Holes around the site make sense only as an eclipse prediction device.

Answer 5

the moon was first studied when humans first saw the moon

Answer 6

as soon as the human brain could comprehend changes in the night sky

Answer 7

Pluto's moons were discovered at different times.

Charon: 1978

Nix: 2005

Hydra: 2005

Kerberos: 2011

Styx: 2012

Answer 8

Saturn has more than 150 moons and moonlets. In 1923, ten moons were known round Saturn. The others have been discovered at various times over the years since then.

Answer 9

it was the same size as the sun