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2024-11-11

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Astronomers discover 128 new moons orbiting Saturn (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Summary

Astronomers have discovered 128 new moons around Saturn, bringing its total to 274, far surpassing Jupiter’s 95.

The moons, formally recognized by the International Astronomical Union, are small, irregularly shaped objects detected using the “shift and stack” technique.

Scientists believe they are remnants of larger celestial bodies shattered by collisions within the last 100 million years.

The discovery sheds light on the early solar system’s chaotic history and could help explain the origins of Saturn’s rings. Meanwhile, ESA’s Hera spacecraft will conduct a close flyby of Mars’s moon Deimos.

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[–] [email protected] -2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

"Moons". What do they count as moon? Anything they can track and identify? Anything larger than a football?

They took away Plutos planet status, but call every dirt blob a moon.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Same question.