Astronomers have discovered 12 more moons orbiting Jupiter. The planet now has 92 known moons. That’s more moons than any planet in our solar system.
Telescopes in Hawaii and Chile spotted the new moons. Scientists had to confirm the discovery. It took about a year. The moons are small. They’re less than two miles across. They could be pieces of bigger moons that broke off.
“I hope we can image one of these outer moons close-up,” Scott Sheppard says. He was on the discovery team. He works for the Carnegie Institution for Science. Sheppard wants “to better determine the moons’ origins.” He thinks more moons will be found.
More from Science
Share a Link
- Click the icon above to copy the url link to your clipboard.
- Paste the link into the location in which you share assignments with students. Examples might include, but are not limited to Canvas, Schoology and Edmodo.
Google Classroom
- Click on the icon above to share the article with a class in your Google Classroom.
- Choose an action. Options might include creating an assignment or asking a question.
