dwarf planets - how about dwarf moons?

[karstenthemsen]

hi

With the huge number of moons in the solar system, of which the majority are very, very small and indeed some only few km across, ought there not be a categorisation of moons and dwarf moons, just like we have planets and dwarf planets?

As it is now, are there any requirements before a rotating object can be categorised as a moon, in a similar way as with planets and dwarf planets?

Kind regards

Karsten

[John Mendenhall]

Good question!

IIRC, planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, and comaets orbit the Sun. Moons orbit the sun orbiterss.

However, I would entertain the idea of reclassifying Pluto-Charon as a pair of dwarf planets.

[Barabino]

as far as I understand the mainstream theory, dwarf planets are called dwarves NOT because they are small, but because they were expected to lump together, but they didn't (yet): they haven't cleared their garden, that remains cluttered with bricks and metal scraps instead of having a nice garage like the others ...

if they had managed to become planet + moon, they could not be called dwarves anymore... thus we we have a paradox: Proto-earth + Theia were dwarf planets (although big ones), but present-day Earth + Moon is NOT...

[Barabino]

too bad nobody of you told anything... I enjoyed the idea that proto-earth (lifeless) was a dwarf planet...