Jupiter has 12 brand-new moons now

Here is some brand-new and fascinating news for all you space enthusiasts. Turns out, Jupiter now has 12 new moons, putting the total count at a record-breaking 92. It makes Jupiter the planet with the largest number of moons in the solar system. Earlier, it was Saturn who had the spot with 83 moons keeping Jupiter at a close second with 82.  

As per the reports of Sky and Telescope, the new moons of the solar system’s biggest planet have been discovered using telescopes in Hawaii and Chile throughout 2021-2022. However, it was only recently that their statuses have been confirmed with visible orbits, after a series of follow-up observations.  

The findings have been published in the journal The Minor Planet Centre (MPC) by the International Astronomical Union. Scott S. Sheppard from the Washington DC-based Carnegie Institution for Science who has been the lead astronomer has reported that the new moons range in size from 1 kilometre to 3 kilometres in circumference.  

Other than Earth’s own natural satellite, the one and only Moon, it is Jupiter’s first four moons (named and found by Galileo) that have till date stole the biggest limelight. They are Io, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede. But now, for the first time in space history, other moons of Jupiter have gained the attention. Sheppard and his team believe that it is because these newest moons maybe the fragments of these bigger moons that may have collided with each other or with other celestial objects such as comets and asteroids. Apparently, the same can be said for Uranus and Neptune, but they are so far away that locating the moons is extremely challenging.  

Anyhow, as known so far, most of these new and smaller moons take beyond 340 days to orbit Jupiter. In fact, nine of them may take as long as 550 days and are among the outermost of Jupiter’s moons. The rest three are sandwiched between the large Galilean moons and the retrograde (retreating) moons, but move in a forward direction. As it turns out, they were harder to find as they are situated close to Jupiter and is often overshadowed by its bright scattered light.  

What you may not know is that, it was Sheppard himself who had discovered 20 new moons of Saturn in 2019, allowing it to overtake Jupiter in the lunar tally. While Jupiter’s brand-new moons are yet to be named, Sheppard is eager to once again organise an online contest just like he had done earlier in case of Saturn. Interestingly, he is also looking forward to keep adding moons for both Jupiter and Saturn in the near future.