this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2025
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Astronomy
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This is a great question. It's like asking when a rock is too small to be a planet. I suspect there were be a definition eventually that mirrors the planetary definition -- something like "spherical(ish) and clears its orbit". The issue is that Mars would lose its two moons under that definition.
So we might end up with something like "moons" vs "natural satellites" and Mars will just have to suck it up.
Moons vs. dwarf moons? (Sounds like a fantasy novel series.)