Why are their so many moons? when theres just one near earth?

Question

i have a big problem am studying the whole space and there is a moon right? it is near earth and some planet dont get the moon. but how come like jupiter have his moons like europa when jupiter cant evan see it and its not in the solar system and it looks diffrent then the moon i know please help if you can thank you really much

Answer 1

  It's just a matter of chance.

  When the solar system started 4.5 billion years ago it was a massive conglomeration of hydrogen and other rocky material that eventually swirled into what we see today.

  The earth could have had more moons like mars etc it was the luck of the draw.

Answer 2

You would expect the gas giants to have many because of their immense gravity, and clearly those moons are in the grip of the parent planet. Venus and Mercury have none because of being so close to the sun. Pluto has a companion out of sheer chance. Mars picked up two over-sized rocks being close to the asteroid belt. But what is our moon doing here with earth? This comes from Isaac Asimov. He had said in one of his many books, that the earth/moon system is really a double planet. The tug of war between the sun and earth for control of the moon is ever so slightly in earth's favor. The result of which the moon's orbit is always concave - falling toward the sun. Plus, the origin of the moon has always been in debate. Was it captured? Was it born in the same vicinity? Was it formed from collision of another body crashing into earth? I think the jury is out on this one.

Answer 3

The rocky planets near the Sun (Mercury, Venus, the Earth, and Mars) may be less likely to have moons than the big outer planets.  The big Moon of the Earth may be the result of an unusual "accident" late in the formation of the Solar system.  The moons of Mars are probably just captured asteroids.  The outer planets, in contrast, where in a less gravitationally stressed environment at the time the Sun turned on and essentially ended planet and moon formation.

Answer 4

Huge jovian planets, such as Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, have massive gravity which allows them to capture wandering orbs which become a part of their moon systems. It is very presumptive to disallow the very possibility of other earth like worlds in orbit around other solar systems in the universe.