Space & Astronomy

Venus may have once had its own moon... and then ate it

By T.K. Randall
September 9, 2026

Image: Global View of the Surface of Venus (1991)
Credit: (PD) NASA/JPL In many ways, Venus is very similar to the Earth due to its comparable size, mass and composition, yet there is one way in which it is very different - unlike the Earth, Venus completely lacks a moon.

The question is - was this always the case, or did Venus once have a moon and then lose it ?

Now, according to new research, the latter scenario may be the most likely.

To find out, the team - which hails from the University of California, Riverside - created a detailed computer model to simulate the gravitational forces that would have been present if Venus had a moon in orbit around it.In most scenarios, they found that the moon would have drifted inward toward Venus, causing it to be completely torn apart and destroyed by the planet's gravity.

That said, there may have been a very specific combination of circumstances that would have allowed the moon to survive.

Venus would have needed to be spinning rapidly when the moon formed, while the moon itself could not have been too massive. However, these conditions would have been very unlikely.

As things stand, we simply can't tell for sure if Venus did have a moon or not.

Without more data, the mystery is likely to remain, for now at least, unsolved.

Source: Space.com

Tags: Venus