Jupiter’s total number of known moons to a whopping 79 tagged posts

Various groupings of Jovian moons with the newly discovered ones shown in bold. The ‘oddball,’ called Valetudo after the Roman god Jupiter’s great-granddaughter, has a prograde orbit that crosses the retrograde orbits. Credit: By Roberto Molar-Candanosa, courtesy of Carnegie Institution for Science.

This brings Jupiter’s total number of known moons to a whopping 79 – the most of any planet in our solar system. Twelve new moons orbiting Jupiter have been found – 11 “normal” outer moons, and one that they’re calling an “oddball.” This brings Jupiter’s total number of known moons to a whopping 79 – the most of any planet in our Solar System.

A team led by Carnegie’s Scott S...