Planetary-mass moon

A planetary-mass moon is a planetary-mass object that is a natural satellite of another such object. They are large and ellipsoidal (sometimes spherical) in shape. Moons may be in hydrostatic equilibrium due to tidal or radiogenic heating, in some cases forming a subsurface ocean. Two moons in the Solar System, Ganymede and Titan, are larger than the planet Mercury, and a third, Callisto, is just slightly smaller than it, although all three are less massive. Additionally, seven – Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, Io, Luna, Europa, and Triton – are larger and more massive than the dwarf planets Pluto and Eris.

The concept of satellite planets – the idea that all planetary-mass objects, including moons, are planets – is used by some planetary scientists, such as Alan Stern, who are more concerned with whether a celestial body has planetary geology (that is, whether it is a planetary body) than its solar or non-solar orbit (planetary dynamics).^[1] This conceptualization of planets as three classes of objects (classical planets, dwarf planets and satellite planets) has not been accepted by the International Astronomical Union (the IAU).