New discoveries double number of ‘irregular’ Saturn moons, bringing total count to 145

The Minor Planet Center is announcing a bevy of new moons for Saturn that will bring its total to 145 (and break Jupiter’s record). Saturn has reclaimed the record for most moons in the solar system with the discovery of 62 new moons. All are only a few kilometers in size and have orbits far from the planet that indicate their origin: Saturn captured these rocks at some point in the past. As of press time, the Minor Planet Center (MPC) has published the orbits of 41 new moons in a series of announcements, called Minor Planet Electronic Circulars, issued between May 3rd and 10th. Brett Gladman (University of British Columbia, Canada) said May 11th that the center would release orbits for an additional 21 moons shortly. That will bring Saturn’s total moon count to 145, including 24 “regular” moons, which formed around the planet, and 121 smaller, “irregular” moons on wide, elongated, and tilted orbits. The new reports more than double Saturn’s number of irregular moons, leaving…