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Space
Space
Science
Keith Cooper

Space mysteries: Why are there no gas moons?

Jupiter Solar System Earth Jessie Christiansen Neptune Saturn NASA Mars Ocean
A small blue moon orbits a larger orange planet. stars can be seen in the distance, one of which is close to the pair.

Moons come in many forms.

In our solar system we have rocky moons (e.g. Earth's moon), ocean moons (e.g. Europa and Enceladus) and frozen-ice moons (e.g. Triton) but there are no gas moons. Are we just unlucky not to have any gas moons, or are there physical reasons why they cannot exist?

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