Astronomers have discovered 12 new moons orbiting Jupiter, bringing the total number of its satellites to a record-breaking 92. Jupiter has now surpassed Saturn as the planet with the most moons in our solar system. Saturn, which was formerly the planet with the most moons (83), now ranks second.
According to Carnegie Institution’s Scott Sheppard, who was part of the team, Jupiter’s moons were recently added to the list maintained by the International Astronomical Union‘s Minor Planet Centre.
The moons were discovered in 2021 and 2022 using telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, and their orbits were verified in subsequent studies.
According to Sheppard, the newly discovered moons range in size from 0.6 to 2 miles (1 kilometer to 3 kilometers).
“I hope we can imagine one of these outer moons close-up shortly to better determine their origins,” he stated in an email sent on Friday.
The European Space Agency will launch a spacecraft to Jupiter in April
The European Space Agency will launch a spacecraft to Jupiter in April to research the planet and analyze some of its largest and most frigid moons.
NASA will launch the Europa clipper mission next year to investigate Jupiter’s one moon, Europa, which is supposed to have an ocean beneath its icy crust.
Sheppard, who discovered numerous moons around Saturn a few years ago and has been involved in the discovery of 70 moons of Jupiter so far, expects to continue adding to the two gas giants’ lunar total.
According to Sheppard, Jupiter, and Saturn have several small moons that are thought to be remnants of larger moons that formerly existed and eventually smashed with each other or with asteroids or comets.
The same issue applies to Neptune and Uranus, but they are so far away that moon-spotting becomes even more difficult.
Uranus has 27 verified moons, 14 for Neptune, two for Mars, and one for Earth. There are no satellites of Venus or Mercury.
Jupiter’s newly discovered moons are yet to be named. Sheppard claims that only a few of the moons are large enough to be named (at least one mile (1.5 kilometers) in diameter).