Hundreds of New Moons Discovered, Saturn Extends Lead as Planet with Most Satellites

Saturn has long been known as one of the planets in our Solar System with the most moons. Now, in a new discovery, its count has far surpassed Jupiter, reaching 285 moons. The number of Saturn’s moons has grown over time. A few years ago, only 83 moons were recorded. Then in May 2023, more than 60 new moons were discovered, bringing the total to 145. Two years later, the number increased again to 274. By March 2026, it reached 285, nearly three times that of Jupiter. This is not because Saturn has gained new moons. Rather, it is thanks to science and technology that continue to develop, making the detection of space objects increasingly better. Moons are not large like planets. They are small, dim, and some can be just a few kilometres in diameter. This makes a planet’s moons difficult to see from a distance, including from Earth, even using large telescopes and clever tricks to capture moons that do not have much light. Space Daily writes that astronomers take many exposures around Saturn. From there, each image is shifted following the movement of a possible moon and then combined. A similar technique has been applied to large telescopes like the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii. Using this method, the telescope found a cluster of faint moons and their orbits were tracked. The official record keeper, the Minor Planet Center, then confirmed the findings.