More moons for Jupiter and Saturn!
On March 16, 2026, the Minor Planet Center announced an extra 11 moons for Saturn, bringing its complete to a whopping 285. Plus, Jupiter’s moon rely has lastly cracked 100, with the addition of 4 newly found moons. Jupiter’s grand complete now stands at 101.
The newly found moons are all fairly small, at the least so far as moons are involved. That’s why they haven’t been found till now. These faint, distant house rocks are round 2 miles broad (3 km) with magnitudes of +25 to +27. The decrease the quantity, the brighter it’s. And actually brilliant objects even have unfavorable numbers, just like the solar (-26) and Venus (-4). So these moons are terribly faint. They additionally orbit removed from their planet, making them more durable to trace down.
In truth, the moons of Saturn are so unfold out, they span the width of about 5 full Earth moons as seen from our location here on Earth. So, as you look towards the ringed planet, think about its entourage of satellites extending for huge distances on both facet of it.
As telescopes and commentary strategies enhance, astronomers preserve discovering extra relations at Jupiter and Saturn. In truth, it was simply final March that the Minor Planet Center introduced a staggering 128 additional moons for Saturn.
Observations of the moons
These moons are solely “new” in that they’re new to us. They have been too small and dim for astronomers to identify beforehand. Astronomers made the discoveries by combining previous observations with new observations. They have been trying for objects that moved. And there’ll in all probability be plenty of new discoveries to come back!
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory went on-line in June of 2025. Since then, it’s been issuing alerts to astronomers of the modifications it spots within the sky. These modifications are sometimes the dimming or brightening stars and small objects on the transfer. Rubin sees the tiny modifications the objects make from night time to nighttime. On February 24 alone, Rubin issued 800,000 alerts.
Names for the brand new moons
Only the most important of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s moon have correct names, reminiscent of Ganymede and Titan. The majority of those two planets’ many moons are fairly small and dim. For instance, out of Saturn’s 285 moons, solely 64 have correct names. The group that will be in control of naming these moons is the International Astronomical Union’s Committee for Planetary System Nomenclature. And its rule is that:
… a Jovian or Saturnian satellite tv for pc with an absolute magnitude fainter than 16.5 ought to solely be named whether it is of particular scientific curiosity.
The new discoveries have magnitudes of 25 to 27. So these small, irregular moons are identified by designations as a substitute of names.
Jupiter’s 4 new moons are:
- S/2011 J 4
- S/2011 J 5
- S/2018 J 5
- S/2024 J 1
And Saturn’s 11 new moons are:
- S/2020 S 45
- S/2020 S 46
- S/2020 S 47
- S/2020 S 48
- S/2023 S 51
- S/2023 S 52
- S/2023 S 53
- S/2023 S 54
- S/2023 S 55
- S/2023 S 56
- S/2023 S 57
For now, Saturn holds a considerable lead on Jupiter for most moons in our photo voltaic system.
Bottom line: The Minor Planet Center introduced 11 extra moons for Saturn and 4 extra moons for Jupiter on March 16, 2026. Their new grand totals? Saturn has 285 and Jupiter has 101.
