Discovered 20 new moons of Saturn

Astronomers at the Carnegie Institute of Science have discovered just 20 new moons of Saturn using the Subaru telescope in Hawaii.

Astronomers at the Carnegie Institute of Science have discovered just 20 new moons of Saturn using the Subaru telescope in Hawaii.

The orbit of the 20 new moons around Saturn.Photo: UPI.

They presented their research results at the Asteroid Center (MPC) of the International Astronomical Union.

This discovery made Saturn the most moons planet in the solar system, with a total of 82 known moons. Meanwhile, Jupiter is in second place with 79 moons.

Saturn's new moons are small, less than 5 km in diameter. Among them, there are 17 moons rotating in the opposite direction of rotation of Saturn.

'Through the use of one of the world's largest telescopes, we are gradually finalizing the moon map of the giant planets. They play an important role in helping us determine how to form and develop planets in the solar system , '' said Scott Sheppard, who led the research.

The team predicts that 20 new moons of Saturn may have been part of the larger moons broken.

1. The rings of Saturn are disappearing