We’ve found 12 new moons orbiting Jupiter – and one is probably doomed

Jupiter has the most moons in the solar system

Jupiter has the most moons in the solar system

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstad/Sean Doran

Jupiter is a world of many moons – and now we have found a dozen more, bringing the total count to 79. These new discoveries are tiny, all under 3 kilometres in diameter, and one is really weird.

Scott Sheppard at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC and his colleagues found these moons during a search for a more elusive object, the theorised Planet Nine that may reside in the outer reaches of the solar system. “We were observing and we realised that Jupiter …