Saturn once again becomes the planet with the most satellites in the Solar System

 Jupiter and Saturn are in a fierce competition to hold the title of the solar system planet with the most natural satellites. Over recent years, these two planets have exchanged the lead several times. Jupiter most recently claimed the title after discovering 15 new moons, bringing its total to 92.

However, the International Astronomical Union has recently declared that Saturn now has an additional 28 natural satellites, increasing the count to 117, setting a new record. It's important to note that the number of satellites isn't increasing; rather, it's our knowledge of these celestial bodies that's growing due to the advancements in Earth's telescopic technology.

Since Saturn and Jupiter are the most massive planets in our solar system, they possess a stronger gravitational force that can capture wandering celestial objects. These captured objects, known as "irregular moons," often have unusual and sometimes non-circular orbits.

This complexity poses challenges for astronomers attempting to discover these moons. In 2021, Edward Ashton from the University of British Columbia in Canada and his colleagues initiated a search around Saturn for objects larger than 3 kilometers in diameter. Over a few months, they identified approximately 150 celestial bodies that appeared to be irregular moons.

Further analysis revealed that many of these moons have orbits opposite to Saturn's rotation and are clustered together, indicating that they might have formed from recent collisions involving Saturn's larger moons. Due to these findings, only 28 of the 150 discovered objects have been classified as true independent moons, bringing Saturn's total to 117. Ashton has hinted that more moon discoveries are likely to be announced soon.