Twelve more moons of Saturn discovered
{{date|May 4, 2005}}
Astronomers at the {{w|University of Hawaii}} {{w|Institute for Astronomy}} today announced their discovery of twelve further moons of {{w|Saturn (planet)|Saturn}}, bringing the total number of moons discovered so far to 46.  The initial discovery of the satellites was on December 12, 2004, and was made using the 8.2 metre {{w|Subaru (telescope)|Subaru telescope}} at the {{w|Mauna Kea Observatory}}.  Confirmational observations were then conducted throughout January, February, and March from the Subaru telescope and from the {{w|Gemini Observatory|Gemini North}} telescope.

Similar teams at the university led by {{w|David C. Jewitt|David Jewitt}} discovered 11 moons of [[Jupiter (planet)|Jupiter]] in 2001, and a further 11 in 2002, before turning their attentions to Saturn.

11 of the newly discovered moons are in {{w|retrograde orbit|retrograde orbits}}, leading astronomers to hypothesize that they were originally asteroids, attracted out of the asteroid belt by Jupiter's gravity and then captured by Saturn.  All of the moons are in inclined elliptical orbits, that range from 16 million to 22 million kilometres in distance from Saturn.  As a point of reference, Earth's {{w|moon}} is an average of 384,403 kilometres from the Earth.  The new moons of Saturn are provisionally named S/2004 S07 through to S/2004 S18.
{{Haveyoursay}}
== Sister links ==
{{sisters
|Saturn's natural satellites
}}
== Sources ==
* {{source|
url=http://www.astroday.net/AstroTalk01.html|
author=|
title= UH IfA and UHH Physics & Astronomy Cosponsored AstroTalk - New Moons of Giant Planets|
pub=AstroToday|
date=September 26, 2004}}
* {{source|
url=http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/jupiter_satellite_020516.html|
author=SPACE.com Staff|
title=11 New Moons Discovered Around Jupiter; Brings Total to 39|
pub=SPACE.com|
date=May 16, 2002}}
* {{source|
url=http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/jupiter_moons_010109.html|
author=Robert Roy Britt|
title=Astronomers Find 11 Tiny Moons around Jupiter|
pub=SPACE.com|
date=January 9, 2001}}
* {{source|
url=http://www.planetary.org/news/2005/saturn_12newmoons_0503.html|
author=Emily Lakdawalla|
title=Twelve New Moons for Saturn|
pub=SPACE.com|
date=May 3, 2005}}

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[[Category:Science and technology]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Hawaii]]
[[Category:Jupiter]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:Saturn (planet)]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:University of Hawai'i]]

[[ca:Descobrixen 12 nous satèl·lits de Saturn]]
[[es:Descubren 12 nuevos satélites de Saturno]]
[[pt:Descobertos 12 novos satélites de Saturno]]
Astronomers at the Institute for Astronomy today announced their discovery of twelve further moons of Saturn, bringing the total number of moons discovered so far to 46.  The initial discovery of the satellites was on December 12, 2004, and was made using the 8.2 metre Subaru telescope at the Gemini Observatory|Gemini North telescope.

Similar teams at the university led by David Jewitt discovered 11 moons of Jupiter in 2001, and a further 11 in 2002, before turning their attentions to Saturn.

11 of the newly discovered moons are in retrograde orbits, leading astronomers to hypothesize that they were originally asteroids, attracted out of the asteroid belt by Jupiter's gravity and then captured by Saturn.  All of the moons are in inclined elliptical orbits, that range from 16 million to 22 million kilometres in distance from Saturn.  As a point of reference, Earth's  is an average of 384,403 kilometres from the Earth.  The new moons of Saturn are provisionally named S/2004 S07 through to S/2004 S18.


ca:Descobrixen 12 nous satèl·lits de Saturn
es:Descubren 12 nuevos satélites de Saturno
Descobertos 12 novos satélites de Saturno
Science and technology Space Hawaii Jupiter United States North America Saturn (planet) Astronomy University of Hawai'i