12 new moons around Jupiter discovered: Some must-know facts
New Delhi : Indeed a big news for science lovers globally! Astronomers have discovered a dozen of new moons circling the planet Jupiter. After this discovery, the total count of Jupiter's moons has reached 79.
But, surprisingly, the discovery of these moons wasn't planned. The astronomers during their quest to know about objects on the fringes of the solar system spotted these tiny moons near Jupiter.
A team led by astronomer Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington identified 12 small Jovian moons, including the ten described on Tuesday.
The astronomers confirmed two moons earlier while they announced ten more on July 17. One of the moons is also called an 'oddball' due to its extraordinary path discovered by the astronomers.
The team had used Telescopes in Chile, Hawaii and Arizona to confirm the discovery.
The researchers concluded that these moons might have taken birth during the early days of the solar system and were possibly captured by Jupiter's strong gravitational pull.
"Jupiter is like a big vacuum cleaner because it's so massive," Sheppard said. "These objects started orbiting Jupiter, instead of falling into it. So we think they're intermediate between rocky asteroids and icy comets. So they're probably half ice and half rock."
Must-know facts about Jupiter and its Moons’
- The newly-identified moons are tinier
- Jupiter is home to Ganymede, the biggest moon in the solar system, having a diameter of 3,273 miles (5,268 km).
- Though, these small ones are tinier. The size range is about six-tenths of a mile (1 km) to 2.5 miles (4 km).
- Jupiter's diameter is 88,846 miles, i.e. 142, 984 km.
- One of the newly-discovered moons, Valetudo was named after the ancient Roman god Jupiter's great-granddaughter, the goddess of health and hygiene.
- Valetudo orbits the planet in the same direction that Jupiter spins.
"Valetudo's going down the highway the wrong way, so it's very likely it will collide with these other objects. It probably has collided with them over time," Sheppard said.
