Saturn Strengthens Its "Moon King" Status With 128 New Moons
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With 146 moons, Saturn had already surpassed its closest competitor, Jupiter, which has just 95. The discovery of 128 more has pushed Saturn's total to 274, further cementing its title as the "moon king." That is nearly twice the combined total of all other planets.
"Sure enough, we found 128 new moons,” said the study's lead researcher, Dr. Edward Ashton. "Based on our projections, I don’t think Jupiter will ever catch up."
The moons were detected between 2019 and 2023 using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii. But they were not officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union until March 11, 2025. Some are less than 2.5 miles (4 km) across. In comparison, Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, measures about 3,199 miles (5,150 km) wide. However, all have verified orbits around Saturn. This is a key requirement for an object to be considered a moon.
The newly-discovered moons are "irregular." This means their orbits are tilted compared to the flat plane of Saturn’s rings and larger moons. With these additions, the planet now has 250 irregular moons. They are grouped into three families based on their orbits: Inuit, Gallic, and Norse. Most of the new moons belong to the Norse group, which orbits Saturn in reverse — opposite to the planet’s rotation.
The researchers think these moons are fragments of larger space rocks that collided and broke apart less than 100 million years ago. The pieces were later pulled into orbit by Saturn’s gravity. A closer examination could provide insights into the early Solar System, when such collisions were far more common.
Resources: Space.com, theguardian.com, NASA.gov
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24 Comments
finnydinny78about 2 monthsinsane
kevindurant1002 monthsWow
1_that_one_guy2 monthsWOW 128 that's a lot I wonder how many Jupiter has?- tmussels2 monthshow does it keep getting more it crazy
sophia03132 monthssaturn is so cool!
sylerygunano2 monthsI agrie
sarthak3 monthsThat's a lot of moons!
whaleng3 monthsDang that's crazy- honzyo3 monthsWhy do other planets have rings but others don't
jba-fofi2 monthsThe rings are made of debris that get sucked into its atmosphere.- sadiee27873 monthsThe inner, rocky planets lack rings because they are too small and their gravity isn't strong enough to hold onto such debris
britneytun3 monthsThat is a lot of moon but I wonder why we don't have a lot of moons.- sadiee27873 monthsmainly due to the planets' size, mass, and location in the solar system. Larger planets, like Jupiter and Saturn, have greater gravitational pull, allowing them to capture more debris and form more moons
- mewybybylome3 monthsJames says: "I did not know that Saturn was already famous for its moons." Grandma says: "I think it is interesting that some of the moons orbit in the opposite direction of Saturn."