Summary
Astronomers have discovered 128 new moons around Saturn, bringing its total to 274, far surpassing Jupiter’s 95.
The moons, formally recognized by the International Astronomical Union, are small, irregularly shaped objects detected using the “shift and stack” technique.
Scientists believe they are remnants of larger celestial bodies shattered by collisions within the last 100 million years.
The discovery sheds light on the early solar system’s chaotic history and could help explain the origins of Saturn’s rings. Meanwhile, ESA’s Hera spacecraft will conduct a close flyby of Mars’s moon Deimos.
Right, and I discover a new moon around earth every day.
When is universe sandbox 2 going to update?
An excellent question!
Ring simulations are hard though, I don’t expect to see a lot in that area.
“Moons”. What do they count as moon? Anything they can track and identify? Anything larger than a football?
They took away Plutos planet status, but call every dirt blob a moon.
Same question.
Are those regular moons, or ‘minor’ moons?
I believe they’re called moonlets. They’re tiny moons, rocks that would be large enough to be called asteroids, but floating around in the rings.
They also discovered two cheeks around Uranus!
