Saturn is no longer the planet with the most moons in the solar system. The ringed planet passes behind Jupiter, around which 12 new satellites have been discovered.
Which planet has the most moons in the solar system? Since 2019, it has been Saturn, just ahead of Jupiter. New satellites discovered around Jupiter change the situation: it once again becomes the “queen of the moons” of the solar system, according to information from Sky & Telescopeidentified by ScienceAlert on February 6, 2023.
The Center for Minor Planets, responsible for collecting observations of objects in the solar system, has published new data on 12 new natural satellites of Jupiter. The number of moons revolving around Jupiter thus increases from 80 To 92. That’s more than the number of known moons around Saturn, 83 (including 20 that have yet to be officially named by the International Astronomical Union).
What do we know about the new moons of Jupiter?
They are small and far from the giant planet: it takes them more than 340 days to orbit the planet. These bodies were certainly captured by Jupiter, comparable to a kind of mini solar system. This hypothesis is related to the fact that the orbits of the moons are retrograde (that is, the moons rotate in the opposite direction to the moons closest to Jupiter).
The discovery of these new moons is good news for space exploration. The Jupiter system will be the target of several missions in the years to come. Europe sets out to conquer Jupiter in 2023 with the JUICE mission. The following year, NASA was aiming for the departure of its Europa Clipper mission. Even China plans to explore Jupiter in the 2030s. These new Jovian moons could be interesting targets to study more closely.
Saturn could cross in front of Jupiter
Nevertheless, Jupiter’s victory over Saturn may only be temporary. Jupiter has more confirmed moons than Saturn so far, but new data will be enough to reverse the situation. Scientists believe Saturn’s satellites could have been formed in a collision that disrupted an older, larger moon. For the time being, not all the fragments have been observed precisely enough to be considered as moons. But, if we could one day identify all these objects measuring at least 3 km long, Saturn could again become the queen of the moons of the solar system, ahead of Jupiter.
The search for moons in the solar system is a slow and complex process. While a few weeks of observation may be enough to confirm the existence of a comet or asteroid, it often takes longer for moons orbiting planets. As Sky & Telescope points out, the trajectory of a moon depends on both the gravity of the planet it is bound to and the Sun. In addition, the moon must be observed in a full orbit to confirm that it is actually orbiting the planet. The outermost moons of Jupiter take about 2 years to make a single turn.
