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 2 moons whose names start with the letter R. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Rhea | Saturn | One of the Titans. Older sister of Cronus. |
| Rosalind | Uranus | Named after a charcter in Shakespeare’s play As You Like It |
Rhea
Rhea is the second-largest moon of Saturn, discovered in 1672 by Giovanni Cassini. Named after the Titan goddess who was both sister and wife to Cronus in Greek mythology, Rhea is mainly composed of water ice with a small rocky core. At 1,527 kilometers in diameter, it is the ninth-largest moon in the Solar System. Its surface is heavily cratered and resembles our Moon, featuring bright wispy marks that are actually ice cliffs. Unlike many other moons, Rhea may have a thin atmosphere of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Rosalind
Rosalind is one of Uranus’s inner moons, discovered in 1986 by the Voyager 2 spacecraft as it flew by Uranus. Named after the character Rosalind from Shakespeare’s comedy “As You Like It,” this small moon is only about 72 kilometers across. It orbits Uranus in a prograde direction and is classified as a regular satellite. Like many of Uranus’s inner moons, Rosalind is very dark, reflecting only about 7% of the sunlight that hits it. The moon is thought to be composed of water ice with darker rocky material.
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.