Astronomers have discovered 128 new moons orbiting Saturn, giving the planet a lead in the list of planets with the total number of moons in our solar system. Saturn already had 146 known moons. With advanced telescopes, scientists are now able to see space with so much clarity. 

Advertisment

The findings were submitted on February 6, 2025, by a research team in the Planetary Science Journal. The paper became available on arXiv on March 10, 2025. 

Also read: Even Jurassic World makers couldn't convince Scarlett Johansson to join Instagram

The team was led by Dr Edward Ashton of the Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Academia Sincia in Taiwan. For observation, they used the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii.  

Advertisment

"Sure enough, we found 128 new moons. Based on our projections, I don't think Jupiter will ever catch up," Dr Ashton said as quoted in news reports. As of February 5, 2024, there are 95 moons of Jupiter with confirmed orbits. 

Also read: Monstrous structures '100 times higher than Everest' lie inside Earth. Are they pieces of Theia?

Ashton said that all the new moons are between 2 and 4 kilometres in diameter. He also mentioned that the new moons are likely to have been formed hundreds of millions or even billions of years ago in collisions between larger moons. 

Advertisment

"These are small little rocks floating in space, so some people might not find it quite an achievement. But I think it's important to have a catalogue of all the objects in the solar system," said Ashton. 

The International Astronomical Union formally recognised the moons this week. For now, they have been assigned numbers and letters for identification, but eventually, they will be given names based on Gallic, Norse and Canadian Inuit gods. 

Also read: Here's what Kim Soo Hyun has to say about dating late actor Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor

This is not the first time that astronomers found new moons of Saturn. In 2023, Ashton and his colleagues discovered 62 moons, which were separate from the 128 they most recently found. 

Ashton was affirmative over the possibility of finding more moons with the help of advances in telescope technology, as he believes that there are easily thousands of moons in orbit around Saturn. 

Also read: Mars 1,000,000 BC: 'Mind-reading spy' claims he saw people 'dying' on the red planet

Saturn moon trivia 

Largest Moons on Saturn: 
1. Titan: The largest moon of Saturn, with a diameter of approximately 5,150 kilometres (3,200 miles). Titan is larger than the planet Mercury and has a thick atmosphere.
2. Rhea: The second-largest moon, with a diameter of approximately 1,528 kilometres (949 miles).
3. Iapetus: The third-largest moon, with a diameter of approximately 1,466 kilometres (911 miles).

Notable moons of Saturn:
1. Enceladus: A small, icy moon with a diameter of approximately 504 kilometres (313 miles). Enceladus has a subsurface ocean and geysers that eject water vapour and organic compounds into space.
2. Mimas: A small, icy moon with a diameter of approximately 486 kilometres (302 miles). Mimas has a large crater, Herschel, which gives it a distinctive "death star" appearance.
3. Hyperion: A small, irregularly shaped moon with a diameter of approximately 270 kilometres (170 miles). Hyperion has a highly porous surface and a chaotic rotation.

(With inputs from agencies)