Jupiter Has More Moons than Earth
Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system, and it also has a lot of natural satellites that revolve around it, compared to the Earth’s single moon. The discoveries to not stop and Jupiter’s posse has some new members. On 16th of July 2018, the find of 12 new satellites around the planet made possible by a group of astronomers was announced.
However, the announcement came later as they were found last year. Carnegie Institute for Sciences conducted a research for new objects which was lead by Scott S. Sheppard in the distant Kuiper Belt ( Neptune’s close gigantic ring of debris). The leader along with his team was sidetracked from their initial research goal to the observation of Jupiter. This is how they started to follow Galileo’s steps.
The first heavenly bodies to be discovered revolving around Jupiter were seen by the well-known astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610. He named the moons Ganymede, Io, Europa and Castillo and they are considered the biggest ever discovered. This group was not alone, a fact proven along with the evolution of the stargazing technology. The team lead by Sheppard modified the number to 79 Jovian moons(i.e., Jupiter’s revolving moons).
Jupiter is the only planet to have such a significant number of moons. Saturn follows it with 62 moons after it there is Uranus with 27 and then Neptune’s 14 moons. Mars, the closest planet to Earth has Deimos and Phobos, two satellites. Before being sad about our Earth’s single moon, keep in mind that Venus and Mercury have no moon. They must be the loneliest planets in the Milkey Way.
The reason why Earth has only one planet and Jupiter has kind of too many stays within the rules of gravity and how it works when it comes to planets.
As our second lead editor, Anna C. Mackinno provides guidance on the stories Great Lakes Ledger reporters cover. She has been instrumental in making sure the content on the site is clear and accurate for our readers. If you see a particularly clever title, you can likely thank Anna. Anna received a BA and and MA from Fordham University.
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