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
quipquipx43 monthsyeah thats a lotttttttttt
tymamegaravy3 monthsthat's a lot of moons
giemma3 monthsWow
cadinicevika3 monthsToo many moons!
elih83 monthssoooo many moons!!!!!!!!
annel3 monthsI had always thought that Jupiter had the most moons
852128sophie3 monthsThat's an amazing amount of moons! Who knows how many more will be found in the future?
urlocalcapybara3 monthsWHEN I SAW THIS I WAS SO EXITED BC I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A SPACE NERD
teslaz3 monthscool!
enter_username3 monthsWOW. So many moons