10 most stunning moons of our solar system

From Frank Sinatra's Fly me to the moon to Mohammed Rafi's Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho, the moon has played quite the protagonist in every romantic story. Most of us have spent hours gazing and being completely enchanted by the moon. But what if we tell you there are plenty of moons in our solar system that are as beautiful or even more marvellous as the Earth’s moon? Let’s take a look at the most stunning moons in our solar system.

(Pic courtesy: NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn, and the second-largest moon in our solar system. Interestingly amongst the hundreds of moons in our solar system, Titan is the only one with a thick atmosphere. Titan is also larger than the planet Mercury and it is mostly made of nitrogen just like the Earth, but has a surface pressure 50 percent higher than our's. It has clouds, rain, rivers, lakes, and a sea of liquid hydrocarbons such as methane and ethane.

(Pic courtesy: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)

Jupiter’s Io has a persona of its own. Io is Jupiter’s third-largest moon. As the moon is subjected to tremendous gravitational forces, its surface bulges up and down by, and is the most volcanically active body in our solar system. With hundreds of volcanoes and some erupting lava fountains that go up to dozens of miles high, the subsurface of Io is almost entirely molten.

(Pic courtesy: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Neptune has 16 known moons, of which Triton is the largest. Interestingly it is the only large moon in our solar system with a retrograde orbit, which Triton orbits in the opposite direction of its Neptune's rotation. This moon also has cryovolcanic activity and has a thin atmosphere, with abundances of nitrogen and methane. Similar to Earth’s moonTriton has a synchronous rotation with its planet, where one side faces the planet at all times. Triton also has a highly reflective surface, because most of the nitrogen exists as frost.

(Pic courtesy: NASA/JPL)

Iapetus is often called the yin and yang of the Saturn moons because astronomer Giovanni Cassini discovered that one side of the moon is bright and the other is dark. This is Saturn's third-largest moon. Saturn has tidally locked Iapetus. The moon is named Iapetus after the Greek god Iapetus, who is a son of Uranus and Gaia, a brother to Kronus, and the father of Atlas and Prometheus. As the father of Prometheus, the ancient Greeks regarded Iapetus as the father of the human race.

(Pic courtesy: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)

Phobos is the larger of Mars' two moons. It appears in a non-spherical irregular shape, and as it orbits very close to the planet it completes three orbits in one day. This moon is constantly bombarded with meteors which has led to a dust-filled surface.

(Pic courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

Mimas is the smallest and innermost of Saturn's major moons. What makes Mimas stand out is its crater Herschel, which stretches a third of the way across the face of the moon. and look like the Death Star from 'Star Wars'.

(Pic courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

The small moon has canyons, 12 times as deep as Earth’s Grand Canyon. Much like Frankenstein's monster, Miranda appears as if it was pieced together and didn't merge together. The surface of this moon is nearly as bright as that of Ariel and is the brightest of the larger Uranian moons.

(Pic courtesy: NASA/JPL)

Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system. This is also Jupiter's largest moon. It is bigger than the planets Mercury and Pluto. There is strong evidence that this moon has an underground saltwater ocean, that might hold more water than Earth's surface. It is also the only moon to have its own magnetic field and causes auroras.

Saturn's moon Enceladus is a ray of hope. There are hints that the subsurface saltwater ocean might be a potential habitat for life. This small icy moon has geyser-like plumes that eject water vapor and ice particles into space. This moon is named after a giant in Greek mythology.

(Pic courtesy: NASA/JPL)

Moon is our Earth's only natural satellite and closest celestial neighbour. It's this beautiful moon that makes Earth more livable, by stabilizing its axial wobble, which results in a stable climate. It's the moon that causes the tide.