AboutNatasha Kozyreva Expertise You can ask me questions on the Russian language, literature and culture. As a resident of Saint-Petersburg, I'd be glad to answer questions about it as well.
As I think I've mentioned before, I live in Turkey.
I am currently doing a Turkish course, and the teacher said that the Turkish word for “moon” (ay) can only be used for the heavenly body which circles the earth. For the moons of other planets you can only say "uydu" (satellite).
However, the English word “moon” can be used e.g. for the two satellites of Mars, Deimos and Phobos: "Mars has two moons" is perfectly good English.
Please, what is the case in Russian? Is луна́ only used of Earth’s moon, or can it be used for any of the moons belonging to any of the planets?
Still if one is not an astronomer, one is more likely to say "спутник". By the way, as the latter also means "the person who accompanies", it adds a human touch to celestial bodies :)
