Scientists Discover 12 New Moons Orbiting Jupiter

 February 12, 2023

There are currently 12 more moons orbiting Jupiter, according to astronomers. With 92 moons in total, Jupiter now possesses more than any other planet in our solar system.

The newly discovered moons have lately been included in a list maintained by the renowned Minor Planet Center. The International Astronomical Union, which runs the facility, continuously logs the positions of planets, moons, and other celestial bodies.

Astronomer Scott Sheppard works for the Carnegie Institution of Science. He was a part of the group that made the most recent findings.

Sheppard told The Associated Press (AP) that in 2021 and 2022, telescopes in Chile and Hawaii were used to discover the new moons. Additional observations supported the initial sightings.

According to him, the size of the most recent moons is between one and three kilometres. Sheppard continued, "I hope we can picture one of these outer moons up-close in the near future to better understand their origins.

Sheppard has previously participated in the discovery of 70 moons for Jupiter. He also found Saturn's moons.

Sheppard remarked that the newly found moons of Jupiter have no names. Only half of them, according to him, are large enough—at least 1.5 kilometers—to merit a name.

Some of the planets in our solar system have several moons, while others have none.

According to the American Space Agency (NASA), up until the most recent revelation, Saturn was the planet with the most number of moons. 83 moons around Saturn are currently confirmed to exist. Since Sheppard's team found 20 more moons in 2019, Saturn has kept the top spot. Prior to then, Jupiter, which has 79 known moons, dominated the solar system.

In the future, Sheppard told the AP, he anticipates continuing to add moons to both Jupiter and Saturn.

The numerous tiny moons of Jupiter and Saturn are thought to have originated through collisions with larger moons, asteroids, or other celestial bodies. Numerous minor moons also orbit Neptune and Uranus. However, Sheppard noted that because such planets are significantly further away from Earth, it is more challenging to find new moons around those planets.

Titan and Enceladus are Saturn's two so-called "ocean moons." According to NASA, the ice and rock fragments that make up Saturn's rings are not considered moons in and of themselves. However, there are moons within the planet's rings, and they support the alignment of the rings.

The largest moon in the solar system, Ganymede, as well as the ocean moon Europa and the volcanic moon Lo are all moons of Jupiter. Many of Jupiter's outer moons have what are known as retrograde orbits, according to NASA. They therefore orbit in the opposite direction from the direction that the planet spins.

There are 14 verified moons on Neptune, compared to 27 on Uranus, one of the other major planets in our solar system. Earth has one, Mars has two. Venus and Mercury don't have any known moons.

According to theory, Earth's moon was created when a massive space object the size of Mars collided with the planet. In the aftermath of the collision, our moon is thought to have formed some 4.5 billion years ago.

Astronomers continue to find the enormous gas planet Jupiter to be one of the most fascinating. Mostly hydrogen and helium make up Jupiter's atmosphere. It travels 778 million kilometres in one orbit around our sun.

The European Space Agency (ESA) intends to deploy a probe to study Jupiter this year. It is anticipated that JUICE, short for Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, would launch in April. The three major moons of Jupiter will be closely observed by the expedition.

As scientists use Jupiter as a model for other gas giant planets throughout the universe, ESA said it expects the observations will aid in their understanding of the planet's complicated ecosystem.