Saturn Solidifies Its Title As Moon King With Discovery of 128 New Moons (www.cbc.ca) 22
Astronomers using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope have discovered 128 new moons around Saturn, bringing its total to 274 -- more than all the other planets combined. CBC News reports: Jupiter and Saturn have been locked in a battle for the most moons for years -- with Saturn stealing the crown from Jupiter only two years ago when the same group of researchers found 64 additional moons orbiting it. But scientists say this discovery likely settles the score once and for all. [...] He and the other scientists working on the project made the discovery using the Canada France Hawaii Telescope, a 3.6-meter optical telescope on the summit of the dormant volcano Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Scientists have been capturing pictures of the moons using the telescope since 2019. The researchers aligned and layered 44 of those images on top of one another in order to enhance the appearance of the moons and determine what they were. These moons are nothing like Earth's very own, however. Sara Mazrouei, a planetary scientist and educational developer at Humber Polytechnic, says that while we tend to think of a spherical shape when we hear the word moon, anything that orbits a planet, or another body in space that is not a sun, is considered a moon. Mazrouei says many of the moons surrounding other planets in our solar system -- including the ones observed here -- are in fact only a few kilometers across in size and oddly shaped, like an asteroid.
Scientists have been capturing pictures of the moons using the telescope since 2019. The researchers aligned and layered 44 of those images on top of one another in order to enhance the appearance of the moons and determine what they were. These moons are nothing like Earth's very own, however. Sara Mazrouei, a planetary scientist and educational developer at Humber Polytechnic, says that while we tend to think of a spherical shape when we hear the word moon, anything that orbits a planet, or another body in space that is not a sun, is considered a moon. Mazrouei says many of the moons surrounding other planets in our solar system -- including the ones observed here -- are in fact only a few kilometers across in size and oddly shaped, like an asteroid.
Cassiniâ"Huygens (Score:2)
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Errrrr....it was not looking for new moons. From the wiki, it's job was
Determining the three-dimensional structure and dynamic behavior of the rings of Saturn.
Determining the composition of the satellite surfaces and the geological history of each object.
Determining the nature and origin of the dark material on Iapetus's leading hemisphere.
Measuring the three-dimensional structure and dynamic
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It might have found some while still far away when one picture can capture more space around Saturn.
Re: Cassini-Huygens (Score:2)
Is there a cut-off (Score:2)
between a moon and an asteroid? I would've thought a moon would be required to be approximately spherical. Similar to a planet.
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between a moon and an asteroid? I would've thought a moon would be required to be approximately spherical. Similar to a planet.
There isn't a consistently universal cut-off for a planet, let alone something that orbits a planet. Turns out the answer is kind of arbitrary, and there are multiple reasonable values.
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How can this be stable? (Score:2)
How can a system with 274 moons be "stable"? I mean, it isn't stable in a mathematical sense of view but I guess these moons have been there for millions, if not billions of years, so in a practical sense, the system is stable. How can that be? I would expect the gravity of all these moons change each other's orbit causing collisions, ejecting the moons from Saturn etc? Not every day but maybe every 100 years or so?
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How can a system with 274 moons be "stable"?
The same way the Earth is stable with thousands of artificial moons humans placed into orbit. The moons are small and affect the system but being so small the overall gravitational effect is negligible. Remember it has taken this long to find these moons so they must be very small.
Rings? (Score:1)
anything that orbits a planet, or another body in space that is not a sun, is considered a moon
So by that definition all the bits of ice and junk in the rings are individual moons? If not then the Earth says "suck it Saturn". It has over 11k satellites in orbit currently. Maybe Saturn should make itself more hospitable to intellect life so they can throw a bunch of junk into space to get Saturn's moon crown back.
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If not then the Earth says "suck it Saturn". It has over 11k satellites in orbit currently.
Other than the fact that these Saturn moons are naturally occurring as opposed the 11k artificial Earth moons humans placed in orbit?
Is it a meaningful term then? (Score:1)
I Think We Need "Dwarf Moons" (Score:2)
I think we should do something similar with "Moons". For example, require the definition to be an oblate spheroid. That would demote almost every captured asteroid to being a "Dwarf Moon".
Then maybe the Gas Giants won't have a ridiculous number of "Moons" and let the word "Moon" give the correct stereotypi