2023-02-06 18:54:03
12 new moons orbiting Jupiter were recorded at the Minor Planet Center (MPC) — the official body of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for records and observations of celestial objects other than planets or comets. With that, the total number of Jovian satellites reaches 92, the largest in the Solar System.
According to the Sky & Telescope portal, publications regarding the new discoveries should come out soon, as reported to the website by astronomer Scott Sheppard, from the Carnegie Institute for Science, in the United States.
All of the newly discovered Jovian moons are small and distant, with orbits greater than 340 days. Nine of the 12 are among Jupiter's 71 outermost moons, whose orbits last more than 550 days. The gas giant likely captured them, as evidenced by their retrograde orbits, in the opposite direction of the inner moons. Only five of all retrograde moons are larger than 8 kilometers in diameter.
Still according to Sky & Telescope, three of the new moons are among 13 others that orbit in a prograde direction, and fall between the large nearby Galilean moons and the distant retrograde moons. These progressive moons are believed to have formed where they are.
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