Venus had a moon for nearly 2 billion years, scientists say
Researchers said Venus’s slow spin and strong gravity would have pulled a moon inward until it broke apart and was consumed.
- On September 2, 2026, researchers from the University of California, Riverside, and CNRS in France reported that Venus likely possessed a moon billions of years ago, which the planet eventually consumed due to its gravity.
- Venus rotates slowly, taking 243 days for one spin, which causes the planet's gravity to pull any orbiting moon inward; this differs from Earth, where faster rotation pushes our moon away over time.
- Astrophysicist Stephen Kane's models indicate a moon could have lasted nearly 2 billion years before reaching the Roche limit, 9,321 miles above the planet, where Venus's gravity ripped the satellite apart.
- Natural gravitational forces caused the moon to collapse, which Kane described as not requiring a "catastrophe to arrive at what we can see today." The process occurred naturally over billions of years.
- Researchers noted that slowly rotating planets in other systems are unlikely to retain large satellites, a factor that could influence their obliquity stability and potential long-term habitability.
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20 Articles
Venus may once have had a moon, but new simulations show that as the planet’s rotation slowed, tidal forces could have dragged the satellite inside the Roche limit and destroyed it—in some scenarios within just 30 million years.
A new tidal-evolution study finds that an early Venusian moon could first move outward, then reverse as Venus slowed, although its fate depends strongly on the tidal model.
Venus had a moon for nearly 2 billion years, scientists say
Venus had a moon a long time ago, scientists in the US and France say. It likely survived for nearly 2 billion years until Venus' gravity tore it apart. The post Venus had a moon for nearly 2 billion years, scientists say first appeared on EarthSky.
New Research Explains Why Venus's Moon May Have Crashed Into It
New research suggests that Venus's slow spin rate and strong gravity likely caused any hypothetical moon it once had to crash into the planet. This study, led by astrophysicist Stephen Kane, models planetary interactions and indicates that Venus did not require a catastrophic event to lose a moon, but rather its inherent physical properties led to its absorption. This finding has implications for understanding moon retention in other slowly rota…
Venus ate its own moon and didn't even burp. We now know why Earth's twin is moonless
A new study suggests Venus's slow spin may have pulled a former moon into the planet. The finding offers a fresh explanation for why Earth's twin is moonless and where clues may still lie.
ASTROPHYSICS from California presented a new theory on Monday explaining why Venus, the planet most similar to Earth in size, mass and structure, does not have its own moon, suggesting that it is a case of "celestial cannibalism".
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