Artist rendering of moons orbiting Saturn. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
The official number of moons orbiting Saturn nearly doubled last month when the International Astronomy Union (IAU) recognized the discovery of 128 new Saturnian satellites, bringing the total count to 274. The discovery was made in 2023 by an international team of astronomers using the Canada-France-Hawaiʻi Telescope on Maunakea. The moons vary significantly in shape; many measure just a few kilometers across making them difficult to spot. Between 2019 and 2021, the same team of astronomers discovered 62 new moons circling Saturn using the CFH Telescope.