Saturn Now Leads Solar System with 274 Moons After Discovery of 128 New Satellites

Astronomers have confirmed the existence of 128 new moons orbiting Saturn, bringing its total to 274. This discovery, recognized by the International Astronomical Union on March 11, significantly surpasses Jupiter's 95 moons. A team of astronomers from Taiwan, Canada, the USA, and France used the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) between 2019 and 2021 to observe Saturn. The team, led by Edward Ashton, revisited the same sky fields for three consecutive months in 2023, confirming the new moons. These newly discovered moons are irregular in shape, a few kilometers in size, and are believed to be fragments from collisions with other moons or comets. Scientists suggest a collision within Saturn's system likely occurred within the last 100 million years.