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A Dozen new Moons of Jupiter discovered, including one ‘Oddball’

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.

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...

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