This page lists 9 moons whose names start with D, ranging from “Dactyl” to “Dysnomia.” They vary widely in size, origin, and the bodies they orbit, spanning gas giants like Saturn and Jupiter, a dwarf planet, and even asteroids. Studying them helps scientists understand how the solar system formed and how it continues to evolve.
Moons are natural satellites held in orbit around a planet, dwarf planet, or other body by gravity. They range from icy worlds hundreds of kilometers wide to tiny captured rocks barely a kilometer across. The word “moon” itself comes from Earth’s own satellite, which ancient cultures tracked for thousands of years to measure time and mark the seasons.
Below you’ll find the table with Moon, Parent Planet, Diameter (km), Discovery Year, and Description.
Moon: The name of each moon starting with D, listed alphabetically so you can quickly find a specific one at a glance.
Parent Planet: The planet, dwarf planet, or asteroid that each moon orbits, helping you place it within the broader solar system.
Diameter (km): The approximate size of each moon in kilometers, giving you a clear sense of how large or small each body is.
Discovery Year: The year each moon was first identified, letting you see how our knowledge of the solar system has expanded over time.
Description: A short overview of what makes each moon notable, covering its key physical traits, history, or place in space exploration.
Moons
Moon
Parent Planet
Diameter (km)
Discovery Year
Dactyl
243 Ida (asteroid)
1.4
1993
Daphnis
Saturn
8.6
2005
Deimos
Mars
12.4
1877
Desdemona
Uranus
64
1986
Despina
Neptune
150
1989
Dia
Jupiter
4
2000
Dimorphos
65803 Didymos (asteroid)
0.16
2003
Dione
Saturn
1,123
1684
Dysnomia
Eris (dwarf planet)
~700
2005
Descriptions
Dactyl
The first moon ever discovered orbiting an asteroid, Dactyl was spotted by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft during its flyby of 243 Ida. It is a tiny, irregularly shaped rocky body roughly 1.4 km across.
Daphnis
A small inner moon of Saturn that orbits within the Keeler Gap of Saturn’s A ring. Its gravity sculpts distinctive wave patterns along the gap’s edges, photographed in striking detail by the Cassini spacecraft.
Deimos
The smaller and more distant of Mars’s two moons, Deimos is a dark, heavily cratered body thought to be a captured asteroid. It was discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall in 1877.
Desdemona
A small inner moon of Uranus discovered by the Voyager 2 spacecraft during its 1986 flyby. Named after a character in Shakespeare’s Othello, it orbits between two of the planet’s narrow rings.
Despina
An inner moon of Neptune discovered by Voyager 2 in 1989. It serves as a shepherd moon for Neptune’s Le Verrier ring and is named after a daughter of Poseidon in Greek mythology.
Dia
A tiny irregular moon of Jupiter discovered in 2000, belonging to the prograde Himalia group. It is thought to be a fragment of a larger body that broke apart, and measures only about 4 km across.
Dimorphos
The moonlet of near-Earth asteroid Didymos, Dimorphos made history in 2022 when NASA’s DART spacecraft deliberately impacted it to test planetary defense, successfully changing the small moon’s orbital period.
Dione
One of Saturn’s largest moons, Dione has a bright icy surface marked by dramatic cliffs and ancient impact craters. It was discovered by Italian-French astronomer Giovanni Cassini in 1684 and may harbor a subsurface ocean.
Dysnomia
The only known moon of the dwarf planet Eris, Dysnomia was discovered in 2005 and named after the goddess of lawlessness. Its orbit allowed astronomers to measure Eris’s mass and confirm it is more massive than Pluto.
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