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Saturn overtakes Jupiter as host to most moons in solar system
Saturn has taken over from Jupiter as host to the most moons in the solar system after astronomers spotted 20 more lumps of rock orbiting the ringed planet.
It brings the number of Saturnian moons to 82, surpassing the 79 that are known to orbit Jupiter, its larger, inner neighbour.
“It’s exciting to find them,” said Scott Sheppard, an astronomer who led the work at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC. “These moons are very far away from the planet.” Each is about three miles across.
The scientists discovered the moons when they set algorithms to work on decade-old images captured from the powerful Subaru telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. By comparing images taken over hours and days, the algorithms distinguished between stationary stars and galaxies and moons that hurtled around the planet.
Saturn has taken over from Jupiter as host to the most moons in the solar system after astronomers spotted 20 more lumps of rock orbiting the ringed planet.
It brings the number of Saturnian moons to 82, surpassing the 79 that are known to orbit Jupiter, its larger, inner neighbour.
“It’s exciting to find them,” said Scott Sheppard, an astronomer who led the work at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC. “These moons are very far away from the planet.” Each is about three miles across.
The scientists discovered the moons when they set algorithms to work on decade-old images captured from the powerful Subaru telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. By comparing images taken over hours and days, the algorithms distinguished between stationary stars and galaxies and moons that hurtled around the planet.
at this Jupiter slander.