Habitability of natural satellites
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The habitability of natural satellites is the potential of moons to provide habitats for life, though it is not an indicator that they harbor it. Natural satellites are expected to outnumber planets by a large margin and the study of their habitability is therefore important to astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life. There are, nevertheless, significant environmental variables specific to moons.
An artist rendering of an exomoon with an Earth-like atmosphere with liquid water filling its craters and water clouds. It orbits a Jupiter-like gas giant exoplanet in the habitable zone, mostly white due to water vapor clouds (Class II, in Sudarsky's exoplanet classification)
Natural satellite
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A natural satellite is, in the most common usage, an astronomical body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body. Natural satellites are colloquially referred to as moons, a derivation from the Moon of Earth.
Size comparison of Earth and the Moon
Artist impression of Rhea's proposed rings