More moons for Saturn

Saturn’s retinue of known moons has increased yet again. In October, a team led by Brett

Gladman of the Observatoire de la Cote d’Azure in Nice, France, announced the discovery of

four previously unrecognized moons belonging to the ringed planet (SN: 11/4/00, p. 298: Available to subscribers at New moons for Saturn).

Those finds crowned Saturn as the planet with the most moons.

Now, Saturn has broken its own record. The same team has found two additional far-flung

moons, each residing an average distance of slightly under 15 million kilometers from Saturn.

That raises Saturn’s moon count to 24, the team reports in a Nov. 18 circular of the

International Astronomical Union.