Saturn has reclaimed its title as the planet with the most moons, with astronomers announcing the discovery of 128 new natural satellites orbiting the gas giant.

This brings Saturn’s total number of moons to 274, far surpassing Jupiter’s 95.

The discovery, made by a team of astronomers led by Mike Alexandersen at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, will be detailed in an upcoming paper in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society.

The newly identified moons, many of which are mere miles across, were officially ratified by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on Tuesday.

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“This is the largest batch of new moons ever confirmed,” said Alexandersen. He added that the findings could provide new insights into the chaotic history of Saturn’s orbit, suggesting that these small celestial bodies may be remnants of past cosmic collisions. Some of these impacts are believed to have occurred as recently as 100 million years ago.

Astronomers define moons as objects that maintain a stable orbit around planets or other non-stellar bodies. Though many of the newfound moons are considerably smaller than Earth's moon, which spans 2,159 miles in diameter, their trajectories have been tracked and confirmed as stable orbits around Saturn.

The outer planets of the solar system are known for their large collections of moons. Uranus has 28 identified moons, while Neptune has 16. However, Saturn’s latest haul sets it apart as the clear leader in the moon count.

“This discovery is significant because it helps us better understand the history and dynamics of Saturn’s complex system,” said Alexandersen. “Each of these moons carries a story about the planet’s past and the conditions in the outer solar system.”

The newly confirmed moons were detected using advanced observational techniques, including a method called ‘shift and stack,’ which enhances faint celestial objects by aligning multiple images over time. This approach has proven particularly effective for identifying smaller moons that may have previously gone unnoticed.

With more powerful telescopes and refined observation techniques, astronomers expect to uncover even more moons around Saturn and other planets, further enriching our understanding of the solar system’s evolution.

Source: The New York Times