The International Astronomical Union confirmed the discovery of 128 new moons around Saturn, significantly increasing its total to 274 and leaving Jupiter with only 95. Discovered by astronomers at the Canada France Hawaii Telescope, these moons are small and irregularly orbit Saturn at steep angles beyond its rings. The group of moons, informally called 'Mundilfari,' may be remnants of a recent collision. Advanced imaging techniques facilitated this remarkable find, documented extensively in ratification papers that detail each moon's observational data and orbits yet to be named.
The International Astronomical Union ratified the recent discovery of 128 previously unknown moons orbiting Saturn, raising its total moon count to 274, outpacing Jupiter.
The moons are small and distant with irregular orbits, likely remnants from a collision that occurred in near-Saturn space around 100 million years ago.
Advanced telescopic techniques were crucial in detecting these moons, allowing astronomers to stitch images together, which led to the identification of 62 moons previously.
The official documents ratifying the moons contained extensive observational data, including detailed descriptions of each moon's orbit.
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