Saturn, the second largest planet in the Solar System becomes the first for the number of moons, 145 against 95 of the second, the planet Jupiter. In the latest bulletin issued by the Minor Planet Center , the research center that collects and stores data on minor bodies in the Solar System, it announces the discovery of 62 new moons around Saturn.
Thanks to these new observations, the planet Saturn goes from 83 moons to 145, thus surpassing Jupiter which remains stationary at 95. The newly discovered moons are in fact small asteroids captured by Saturn in its history. Of the 145 moons, only 24 would have formed with the planet, while the remaining 121 would have been attracted by Saturn's gravity.
Jupiter thus loses the primacy achieved almost a year ago, with the discovery of new natural satellites which had led it to have 95. Astronomers have been discovering new moons for centuries now, around the two largest planets in the Solar System. The first were observed by the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei around Jupiter.
Since then, the discoveries have never stopped and the two largest planets in the Solar System occasionally reveal some new small moons.
