Jupiter becomes planet with most moons
- Jupiter is the biggest planet in the sun’s family. Scientists believed that Saturn had the maximum number of moons. 82 moons have been discovered around Saturn so far. On the other hand, it was believed that Jupiter had 80 moons. However, the latest discovery revealed Jupiter has 12 more moons. With this, the count of Jupiter’s moons increased to 92. Today Jupiter has the maximum number of moons.
- The 12 new moons around Jupiter were discovered by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
- Of the 12 moons discovered, nine are distant
- These nine moons take 550 days to orbit Jupiter
- Also, the nine moons discovered are relatively small
- These nine moons have retrograde orbits. Meaning their orbiting direction is opposite to that of Jupiter’s rotation
- The inner moons of Jupiter have prograde orbits. Meaning, they rotate in the same direction as that of Jupiter.
>> Download Current Affairs PDFs Here
Download Sakshi Education Mobile APP
#Tags