There are 288 discovered natural satellites – or moons, as they are colloquially known – in the Solar system. Most of these are found in the outer gas giants. However, many of these have not received proper names as they were discovered recently and have yet to be confirmed. Only 164 moons have proper names.
Out of those, there are 19 moons whose names start with the letter P. These are all listed in the following table. Below you will also find some additional details about each, including physical characteristics, the original meaning of their names, etc.
| Name | Planet | Name meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Paaliaq | Saturn | Named after after a fictional shaman in the book The Curse of the Shaman |
| Pallene | Saturn | One of the Alkyonides, the seven beatiful daughters of Alkyoneus |
| Pan | Saturn | God of the wild, sheperds, and flocks. |
| Pandia | Jupiter | Greek representation of the Moon. Daughter of Zeus and Selene. |
| Pandora | Saturn | Also known as Anesidora.It means “she who sends up gifts” |
| Pasiphae | Jupiter | Queen of Crete. Daughter of Helios and mother of the minotaur. |
| Pasithee | Jupiter | One of the Graces or Charities (goddesses of charm, beauty, goodwill, and creativity) |
| Perdita | Uranus | Named after a charcter in Shakespeare’s play The Winter’s Tale |
| Philophrosyne | Jupiter | Spirit of friendliness and kindness. One of the Charities or Graces. |
| Phobos | Mars | Greek god of fear and panic |
| Phoebe | Saturn | One of the first generation Titaness. It means “shining” or “bright”. Original owner of the oracle of Delphi. |
| Polydeuces | Saturn | Alternative name for Pollux, son of Zeus and Leda |
| Portia | Uranus | Named after a charcter in Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice |
| Praxidike | Jupiter | Greek goddess of punishment. |
| Prometheus | Saturn | One of the Titans. Known for stealing the fire of the gods and gifting it to humanity |
| Prospero | Uranus | Named after a charcter in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest |
| Proteus | Neptune | Shape-changing sea god in Greek mythology |
| Psamathe | Neptune | One of the Nereids in Greek mythology |
| Puck | Uranus | Named after a charcter in Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream |
Paaliaq
Discovered in 2000 by the Spacewatch program, Paaliaq is an irregular moon of Saturn named after a shaman character in Michael Kusugak’s novel “The Curse of the Shaman.” About 22 kilometers in diameter, it belongs to the Inuit group of moons, which share similar orbital characteristics and are believed to be fragments of a larger body that broke apart.
Pallene
Pallene, discovered in 2004 by the Cassini imaging team, is a small inner moon of Saturn. Named after one of the seven beautiful Alkyonides from Greek mythology, it’s only about 4-5 kilometers in diameter. It orbits between Mimas and Enceladus and is one of Saturn’s “co-orbital” moons, sharing its orbit with Methone.
Pan
Pan, discovered in 1990 by Mark Showalter in Voyager 2 images, is a small inner moon of Saturn known for its distinctive “flying saucer” shape. Named after the Greek god of shepherds and flocks, it acts as a “shepherd moon” for Saturn’s A Ring, maintaining the Encke Gap. Its unique shape, resembling a walnut or ravioli, is due to its accumulation of ring material around its equator.
Pandia
Pandia is a small irregular moon of Jupiter discovered in 2017 by Scott Sheppard’s team. Named after the Greek goddess of the full moon and daughter of Zeus and Selene, it’s approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It belongs to the Himalia group of moons, which share similar orbital characteristics.
Pandora
Pandora, discovered by the Voyager 1 team in 1980, is one of Saturn’s shepherd moons. Named after the first woman in Greek mythology who opened the box releasing troubles into the world, it’s about 81 kilometers across. Along with Prometheus, it helps maintain the F ring’s narrow structure through gravitational interactions.
Pasiphae
Pasiphae was discovered in 1908 by Philibert Jacques Melotte. Named after the queen of Crete who was mother to the Minotaur, it’s one of Jupiter’s largest irregular moons at about 58 kilometers in diameter. It orbits Jupiter in a retrograde direction and is the namesake of the Pasiphae group of irregular satellites.
Pasithee
Pasithee, discovered in 2001 by Scott Sheppard and colleagues, is an irregular moon of Jupiter. Named after one of the Graces (Charites) from Greek mythology, it’s one of Jupiter’s smallest known moons at approximately 2 kilometers in diameter. It belongs to the Carme group of retrograde satellites.
Perdita
Perdita, first spotted in Voyager 2 images but not confirmed until 1999, is a small inner moon of Uranus. Named after the lost princess in Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale,” it’s only about 30 kilometers in diameter. It acts as a shepherd moon for Uranus’s rings and orbits between Belinda and Puck.
Philophrosyne
Philophrosyne is a small irregular moon of Jupiter discovered in 2003 by a team led by Scott Sheppard. Named after the spirit of welcome and kindness in Greek mythology, it’s approximately 2 kilometers in diameter. It belongs to the Ananke group of retrograde satellites.
Phobos
Phobos, discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877, is the larger and inner of Mars’s two moons. Named after the Greek god of fear, it’s about 22 kilometers in diameter and marked by the large impact crater Stickney. It orbits so close to Mars that it rises in the west and sets in the east twice each Martian day, and is gradually spiraling inward, predicted to either crash into Mars or break apart forming a ring in about 30-50 million years.
Phoebe
Phoebe, discovered by William Henry Pickering in 1898, is Saturn’s ninth-largest moon. Named after the Titan goddess of brightness, it’s about 213 kilometers in diameter and notable for its retrograde orbit, suggesting it’s a captured object rather than an original satellite of Saturn. The Cassini mission’s close study revealed it to be rich in ice and organic compounds, possibly originating in the Kuiper Belt.
Polydeuces
Polydeuces, discovered in 2004 by the Cassini imaging team, is a small moon of Saturn that shares the same orbit as Dione. Named after one of the Gemini twins from Greek mythology, it’s only about 13 kilometers in diameter. It’s one of Saturn’s trojan moons, following Dione’s orbit at its L5 Lagrange point.
Portia
Portia, discovered by the Voyager 2 imaging team in 1986, is an inner moon of Uranus. Named after the clever heiress in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” it’s about 135 kilometers in diameter. It orbits within Uranus’s ring system and is thought to be gradually spiraling outward due to tidal forces.
Praxidike
Praxidike, discovered in 2000 by Scott Sheppard and his team, is an irregular moon of Jupiter. Named after the Greek goddess of judicial punishment, it’s approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It belongs to the Ananke group of retrograde satellites, suggesting it was captured by Jupiter’s gravity.
Prometheus
Prometheus, discovered by the Voyager 1 team in 1980, is one of Saturn’s inner shepherd moons. Named after the Titan who gave fire to humanity, it’s about 86 kilometers in length and has an irregular, potato-like shape. Along with Pandora, it helps maintain Saturn’s F ring structure through gravitational interactions.
Prospero
Prospero, discovered in 1999 by the team of Matthew Holman, is one of Uranus’s irregular moons. Named after the exiled sorcerer in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” it’s approximately 50 kilometers in diameter. It orbits Uranus in a retrograde direction, suggesting it was captured rather than formed alongside the planet.
Proteus
Proteus, discovered by Voyager 2 in 1989, is Neptune’s second-largest moon. Named after the shape-changing sea god from Greek mythology, it’s about 420 kilometers across and notable for being non-spherical despite its size. Its surface features the large crater Pharos and numerous other impact sites, making it one of the darker objects in the solar system.
Psamathe
Psamathe, discovered in 2003 by a team led by Scott Sheppard, is one of Neptune’s irregular moons. Named after one of the Nereids (sea nymphs) from Greek mythology, it’s approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. It has the second-most distant orbit of any known moon of Neptune, taking about 25 years to complete one orbit.
Puck
Puck, discovered by the Voyager 2 imaging team in 1985, is one of Uranus’s major inner moons. Named after the mischievous sprite from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” it’s about 162 kilometers in diameter. It’s the largest of Uranus’s inner moons and marks the outer boundary of the planet’s main ring system.
Click on a letter below for a list of moons that begin with it.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
Related:
For more on how moons are named check out this article.