Twenty new moons have been found to be orbiting planet Saturn and it has been confirmed by the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Minor Planet Centre.
According to a Carnegie Institution for Science news release, the new discovery brings the total moons around the Saturn to 82. Now it has surpassed Jupiter’s 79 moons.
The new moons are each about 3 miles in diameter and 17 orbit Saturn backwards, or in the opposite direction the planet rotates around its own axis, according to the release. This movement is known as a retrograde direction. The three other moons orbit in the prograde — or the same direction as the planet.
The 20 new moons were seen utilizing the Subaru telescope located on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea by a team led by Scott S. Sheppard.
Fifty-three of Saturn’s moons are confirmed and named, while 29 are awaiting confirmation “of discovery and official naming.
Planets and number of moons
Saturn 82
Jupiter 79
Uranus 27
Neptune 14
Mars 2
Earth 1
Venus 0
Mercury 0
