Though we all have differences, there’s one commonality that has prevailed for all of humanity: we are all floating on a rock, flying through outer space at over a million miles an hour.
Thanks to the rapid advancement of technology in the past century, we can observe much more of the universe than we ever thought possible.
The scale and sheer size of the universe make it impossible to truly learn everything, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
Here's what's happening in space this week.
Saturn is once again the leader of the 'moon race' after astronomers discovered 62 new moons. The planet's new grand total of moons recognized by the International Astronomical Union is now at 145. It is the first planet to have over 100 moons officially recognized.
Led by postdoctoral fellow Edward Ashton from The Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, an international team of astronomers surveyed Saturn's surroundings to hunt for more saturnian moons.
The new study is the latest in a series of surveys of Saturn spanning over the past 20 years. This survey was particularly successful thanks to a technique called 'shift and stack' in which sequential images are stacked in order to reveal moons that were previously too faint to be visible.
The team utilized data from a survey conducted between 2019 and 2021 using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) located atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii to find hidden moons around Saturn.
Though the data collection and surveys started in 2019, the 62 moons are only now being officially recognized. In order for an object to be certified as a moon, the object must be tracked for years and compared to previous photos to confirm it isn't an asteroid or other celestial object.
"Tracking these moons makes me recall playing the kid's game Dot-to-Dot, because we have to connect the various appearances of these moons in our data with a viable orbit", said Edward Ashton in a statement, "but with about 100 different games on the same page and you don't know which dot belongs to which puzzle."
The 62 newly discovered satellites all fall under the classification of 'irregular moons,' meaning astronomers believe they were originally captured by Saturn's gravity long ago.
Saturn now has 121 irregular moons and 24 regular moons, according to the International Astronomical Union. The new moons returned the title of 'moon king' back to Saturn from Jupiter, which has 95 recognized moons.
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