A team of researchers from the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan has managed to identify 62 new natural satellites orbiting Saturn using image overlay technique to identify small celestial bodies.
If we are satisfied with a single natural satellite, consider that we have 145 satellites.
In February of this year, Jupiter had surpassed Saturn in the number of satellites. With 12 new satellites, the gas giant had 92 approved satellites.
But Saturn Returns with multiple new natural satellites leaping from 83 to 145.
The definition of new moons faces several challenges. Since the telescopes used for this purpose are on Earth, factors such as distance from the Sun and brightness are limiting for the identification of new celestial bodies.
The most used technique to identify new stars is based on the identification of disturbances in the planet’s orbit, known as superposition, and light emission.
Astronomers measure the periodicity of shadows and minor perturbations in orbit, which could indicate the presence of a new moon.
But not just any shade. In order for a celestial body to be considered a moon, it must meet some prerequisites such as having a stable orbit around the celestial body, being smaller than the parent star, and not causing discussion of forces that would disrupt its orbit. orbiting star.
The new 62 moons have been observed since 2019. But to identify these new moon clusters, astronomers used the image overlay technique, which creates an orbital map of the moons. In this way, even very small satellites with a diameter of up to 2.5 kilometers could be detected.
Astronomers have classified Saturn’s new moons as “irregular moons”, which are stars with elongated, inclined, and elliptical orbits, the majority of which fit into the Scandinavian group.
But for scientists, these new moons mean little more than new natural satellites.
For researchers, at one point there was an explosion of a large moon on the outskirts of Saturn, creating small moons and contributing to the formation of the planet’s rings.
However, celestial observing technology still needs to advance in order to prove the theory correct.
Source: Tec Mundo
I’m Blaine Morgan, an experienced journalist and writer with over 8 years of experience in the tech industry. My expertise lies in writing about technology news and trends, covering everything from cutting-edge gadgets to emerging software developments. I’ve written for several leading publications including Gadget Onus where I am an author.
