Astronomers discover 10 more Jupiter moonsWorlds without end: Astronomers, while searching for objects in the Kuiper Belt, have discovered 10 more Jupiter moons.
All the newfound moons are small, between about 1 and 3 kilometres across. Seven of them travel in remote orbits more than 20 million kilometres away from Jupiter, and in the opposite direction from the planet’s rotation. That puts them in the category known as retrograde moons.
The eighth moon stands out because it travels in the same region of space as the retrograde moons, but in the opposite direction (that is, in the same direction as Jupiter’s spin). Its orbit is also tilted with respect to those of the retrograde moons. That means it could easily smash into the retrograde moons, pulverizing itself into oblivion. It may be the leftovers of a bigger cosmic collision in the past, Sheppard says.
Jupiter’s moons are named after gods with connections to the mythological Jupiter or Zeus. Sheppard has proposed naming the oddball Valetudo, after one of Jupiter’s descendants, the Roman goddess of hygiene and health.
The ninth and tenth newfound moons orbit closer to Jupiter, moving in the same direction as the planet.
I predict that these are not the last moons of Jupiter to be discovered. As our observing skills improve, more are certain to pop up.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Worlds without end: Astronomers, while searching for objects in the Kuiper Belt, have discovered 10 more Jupiter moons.
All the newfound moons are small, between about 1 and 3 kilometres across. Seven of them travel in remote orbits more than 20 million kilometres away from Jupiter, and in the opposite direction from the planet’s rotation. That puts them in the category known as retrograde moons.
The eighth moon stands out because it travels in the same region of space as the retrograde moons, but in the opposite direction (that is, in the same direction as Jupiter’s spin). Its orbit is also tilted with respect to those of the retrograde moons. That means it could easily smash into the retrograde moons, pulverizing itself into oblivion. It may be the leftovers of a bigger cosmic collision in the past, Sheppard says.
Jupiter’s moons are named after gods with connections to the mythological Jupiter or Zeus. Sheppard has proposed naming the oddball Valetudo, after one of Jupiter’s descendants, the Roman goddess of hygiene and health.
The ninth and tenth newfound moons orbit closer to Jupiter, moving in the same direction as the planet.
I predict that these are not the last moons of Jupiter to be discovered. As our observing skills improve, more are certain to pop up.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Ah, finally some REAL astronomy news! This is what astronomy was all about since Galilei until sometime when astronomers got lost in weird space. Finding and naming Jupiter’s moons. And this while looking for a new planet. Little has changed in the core of the profession after all.
That’s a total of 79?
After humans go to Mars, this will be the next space race to plant your flag on as many of the moons as possible.
With rocket fuel just frozen to the surface of the low gravity moons, servicing the astroid miners and the “outer rim” explorers, the base on Luna will be obsolete and used as a waystation/geriatric assisted living /tourist trap. Manufacturing will move closer to where the action is.
“Outland”
1981
https://youtu.be/H8WBk6nrYC0
(2:45)
I wonder if astronomers will have to decide on a lower bound size (mass? volume?) for an object to qualify as a moon.
After all, planetary rings are just a large quantity of orbiting dust particles. By a certain definition it might seem Saturn has something on the order of Avogadro’s number of moons. Along these lines we might propose a standard for moons similar to planets–that it must clear its own orbit.
@Andrew, Don’t get the IAU started on that! :-D
Andrew, I had the same question. Thank you for asking it!