A Series of Cosmic Collisions Gave Saturn 128 'New' Moons

Astronomers have identified the largest-ever batch of "new" moons to be found circling Saturn. With a whopping 274 moons now known to exist in its orbit, Saturn beats Jupiter's moon count by a mile—or, some might say, a light-year.

Behind the discovery are researchers from the United States, Canada, France, and Taiwan, who used the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) to regularly observe Saturn's neighborhood. Between 2019 and 2021, they combined several high-resolution images of the region and found 62 new moons. This was enough to make headlines a couple years ago, when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) formally recognized the moons and Saturn stole Jupiter's "moon king" title for itself.

But the researchers' success encouraged them to look further. By returning their attention to Saturn for three consecutive months in 2023, the team spotted another 128 moons. The new moons, which are the focus of a forthcoming ...