Astronomers announced last week that they have discovered 62 new moons around Saturn. This brings the total number of moons to 145 and means that Saturn now has more discovered moons than all the other planets in the solar system combined.
Earlier this year, twelve newly discovered celestial bodies around Jupiter were given moon status, which means that Jupiter now has 92 recognized moons and briefly held the record for the most moons. However, with the newly discovered moons around Saturn that have now been recognized, Jupiter slips back to second place in the moon league.
Both Jupiter and Saturn likely have more undiscovered moons. However, researchers believe that Jupiter may struggle to threaten Saturn’s lead in the moon league even if more moons are discovered around Jupiter.
Above is an image of Saturn taken by NASA’s and ESA’s Cassini spacecraft in 2004.
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