Why do some planets have more moons than others?
Question asked by: knowitall
Broadly, the larger the planet (in terms of mass), the more likely they are to have a larger number of moons.
This is because their gravitational field is greater, hence they will capture more moons.
In a similar way to the Queen in chess can capture more pieces as she can roam more squares on the board, so the greater the mass of a celestial body, the more space it can "control" in terms of gravitational pull.
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