Most people don’t realize that there are more objects in the Solar System than they realize. Scientists have confirmed for many years that Jupiter and Saturn have many natural satellites, but recent research has revealed many unknown celestial bodies.
The most recent research revealed 15 additional moons, bringing the total number of Saturn’s moons to 285 and the total number of Jupiter’s moons to 101, while bringing the overall Solar System moon count to 442 known moons.
new moon of jupiter and saturn
The newly discovered moons have a diameter of less than 3 kilometers, making them one of the smallest moons discovered. Smaller moons orbit their parent planets at a greater distance than the standard range of major known moons, making them so dim that backyard telescopes cannot detect them.
Their brightness ranges between magnitude 25 and 27, compared to Earth’s Moon’s magnitude of -12.6. Scott Shepard and David Tholen discovered four new moons of Jupiter using powerful telescopes in Chile and Hawaii.
The 11 new moons orbiting Saturn were discovered by Edward Ashton and his research team, who used a telescope located in Hawaii. The team of astronomers has discovered more than 200 moons that exist throughout the solar system.
Jupiter currently has 101 moons, but Saturn has 285 moons, and the upcoming Europa Clipper and Juice missions, due to arrive in the early 2030s, will discover additional moons. Earth has one moon, while Mars has two moons, Uranus has 28 moons and Neptune has 16 moons, and Venus and Mercury have no moons.
