It is very difficult to keep up with the number of moons in our Solar System.
On March 10, 2025, it was announced that Saturn has 128 NEW moons. Not just a total of 128, but 128 new moons bringing its total number of moons to 274. These are not huge moons like the Galilean moons of Jupiter. They are, in fact, quite small and in the two to four km range. But they count and, according to one article, The Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union has recognized them and NASA/JPL has increased its official count to 274.
- “Saturn Gains 128 New Moons, Bringing Its Total to 274.” New York Times. March 11, 2025.
- Kelly Kizer Whitt. “128 new Saturn moons just announced. Incredible!” EarthSky. March 11, 2025.
- Hannah Devlin. “Astronomers discover 128 new moons orbiting Saturn.” The Guardian. March 11, 2025.
- Matthew Sparkes. “Saturn has 128 new moons – more than the rest of the planets combined.” New Scientist. March 11, 2025.
- Edward Ashton, Brett Gladman, Mike Alexandersen, and Jean-Marc Petit. “Retrograde predominance of small saturnian moons reiterates a recent retrograde collisional disruption.” Submitted to Planetary Science Journal. March 10, 2025.
Earlier in February 2024, a new moon of Uranus and two new moons of Neptune were discovered bring the totals to 28 for Uranus and 16 for Neptune.
- “New moons of Uranus and Neptune announced.” Carnegie Science. February 23, 2024.
- Samantha Hill. “New moons of Uranus and Neptune discovered.” Astronomy. March 4, 2024.
- Jeff Hecht. “Astronomers Find New Moons of Uranus and Neptune.” Sky & Telescope. February 20, 2024.
The big news, at the time, was that 62 new moons were discovered for Saturn in May 2023. this brought the total number of moons for Saturn to 145. Evidently, there was another one discovered and the official count increased to 146.
- Evan Gough. “62 New Moons Discovered: Saturn Takes the Crown for Most Natural Satellites in Solar System.” May 22, 2023.
- Brandon Specktor. “Scientists discover 62 new moons around Saturn, raising total to 145 — the most in the solar system.” Live Science. May 12, 2023.
- Robert Lea. “Saturn reclaims ‘moon king’ title with 62 newfound satellites, bringing total to 145.” space.com. May 12, 2023.
- Evan Gough. “62 New Moons Found for Saturn.” Universe Today. May 15, 2023.
- Sara Novak. “Saturn Has 146 Moons — How Many Moons Do These 5 Other Planets Have?” Discover Magazine. July 23, 2024.
Fear not! There are several sources that do keep track and provide a list of the latest number of moons. However, be sure to check back – the numbers keep climbing.
- “Moons of Our Solar System.” NASA.
- “Full List: Moons of Our Solar System.” NASA.
- “Planetary Satellite Discovery Circumstances.” NASA/JPL-Caltech.
- “Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers.” Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS.
- “Minor Planet Center.” International Astronomical Union.
For more about the larger moons of the solar system, see our previous astronomy blog: Moons of the Solar System.
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