This brings the total number of moons orbiting Jupiter to 92, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Minor Planet Center (MPC). A publication of the new discovery was published by the specialist magazine “Sky and Telescope”.
All of the new moons orbit Jupiter far from its surface, taking between 340 and 550 Earth days to orbit the gas giant. These moons are also all relatively small: only five of these nine moons are more than five miles in diameter.
Jupiter outperforms Saturn thanks to newly discovered satellites
The orbits of the 12 previously unknown moons of Jupiter have been released by the MPC. With this discovery, Jupiter takes over the record as “solar system planet with the most moons” from previous record holder Saturn. It is already suspected that this record will not be maintained for long. Scientists have discovered other boulders in their orbits at both Saturn and Jupiter that may also be classified as moons in the years to come.
First discovery 2021
Incidentally, the first observations of the twelve new moons were made in 2021 and 2022. The delay between when the new moons were first observed and when they were confirmed is because astronomers had to track the rocks for an entire orbit to ensure they were indeed constantly orbiting Jupiter. Meanwhile, the hunt for new moons continues.
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