Saturn 'knocks out' Jupiter in terms of number of moons

Saturn

In recent years, the race for the title of having the most moons has heated up between Jupiter and Saturn.

After being dethroned by Saturn in 2019, Jupiter took the top spot again in February this year, when astronomers discovered 12 previously unrecorded moons of Jupiter, bringing the total number of moons of the largest planet in the solar system to 95.

However, the battle between the two planets now seems to have reached a final conclusion, after scientists found 62 more moons for Saturn. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is expected to recognize these moons in May, The New York Times reported on May 16.

"Both planets have multiple moons," says astronomer Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC. Researchers have yet to explain why Saturn has so many moons.

A newly discovered moon of Saturn

The newly discovered moons of Saturn are unusual in shape, such as potato-shaped, which is less than 3.6 km across. They also orbit far from Saturn, with most of them orbiting at distances between 9.6 million and 29 million km. For larger moons like Titan, this group mostly orbits within 1.6 million km of Saturn.

However, the irregularly shaped moons are still unique. They are mostly clustered together in groups, and they may be the remains of larger moons that broke apart while orbiting Saturn.

"These moons could hold the key to helping astronomers find answers to some of the biggest questions about the solar system. They carry traces of events that occurred when the solar system was young," said Bonnie Buratti, deputy chief scientist of the upcoming Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter.

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