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More moons for Jupiter and Saturn! New totals here

March 20, 2026
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Saturn now officially has 285 moons! This animation, from Tony Dunn at Orbitsimulator.com, shows some of the previously known moons in white and newly discovered moons in red, as they orbit Saturn. On March 16, 2026, the Minor Planet Center announced 11 more moons for Saturn and 4 more moons for Jupiter. Image via Tony Dunn. Used with permission.

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More moons for Jupiter and Saturn!

On March 16, 2026, the Minor Planet Center announced an additional 11 moons for Saturn, bringing its total to a whopping 285. Plus, Jupiter’s moon count has finally cracked 100, with the addition of four newly discovered moons. Jupiter’s grand total now stands at 101.

The newly discovered moons are all quite small, at least as far as moons are concerned. That’s why they haven’t been discovered until now. These faint, distant space rocks are around 2 miles wide (3 km) with magnitudes of +25 to +27. The lower the number, the brighter it is. And truly bright objects even have negative numbers, like the sun (-26) and Venus (-4). So these moons are extraordinarily faint. They also orbit far from their planet, making them harder to track down.

In fact, the moons of Saturn are so spread out, they span the width of about five full Earth moons as seen from our location here on Earth. So, as you look toward the ringed planet, imagine its entourage of satellites extending for vast distances on either side of it.

As telescopes and observation methods improve, astronomers keep finding more family members at Jupiter and Saturn. In fact, it was just last March that the Minor Planet Center announced a staggering 128 additional moons for Saturn.

A half-lit moon, and in the background many small dots that scatter across 5 times the width of the foreground moon.
This illustration shows how much of the sky our moon takes up in comparison to Saturn’s 285 moons. Saturn’s moons cover approximately 5 times the amount of sky as our moon does from our viewpoint on Earth. Image via Tony Dunn/ Orbitsimulator.com. Used with permission.

Observations of the moons

These moons are only “new” in that they are new to us. They were too small and dim for astronomers to spot previously. Astronomers made the discoveries by combining past observations with new observations. They were looking for objects that moved. And there will probably be a number of new discoveries to come!

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory went online in June of 2025. Since then, it’s been issuing alerts to astronomers of the changes it spots in the sky. These changes are often the dimming or brightening stars and small objects on the move. Rubin sees the tiny changes the objects make from night to night. On February 24 alone, Rubin issued 800,000 alerts.

Names for the new moons

Only the largest of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s moon have proper names, such as Ganymede and Titan. The majority of these two planets’ many moons are quite small and dim. For example, out of Saturn’s 285 moons, only 64 have proper names. The organization that would be in charge of naming these moons is the International Astronomical Union’s Committee for Planetary System Nomenclature. And its rule is that:

… a Jovian or Saturnian satellite with an absolute magnitude fainter than 16.5 should only be named if it is of special scientific interest.

The new discoveries have magnitudes of 25 to 27. So these small, irregular moons are known by designations instead of names.

Jupiter’s 4 new moons are:

  • S/2011 J 4
  • S/2011 J 5
  • S/2018 J 5
  • S/2024 J 1

And Saturn’s 11 new moons are:

  • S/2020 S 45
  • S/2020 S 46
  • S/2020 S 47
  • S/2020 S 48
  • S/2023 S 51
  • S/2023 S 52
  • S/2023 S 53
  • S/2023 S 54
  • S/2023 S 55
  • S/2023 S 56
  • S/2023 S 57

For now, Saturn holds a substantial lead on Jupiter for most moons in our solar system.

Part of Jupiter with its dark and light bands and a small mottled moon to the lower left.
Only the largest and brightest moons of Jupiter and Saturn get proper names. For example, Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, has a proper name. The Cassini spacecraft captured this image of the pair on December 3, 2000. Image via NASA.

Bottom line: The Minor Planet Center announced 11 more moons for Saturn and 4 more moons for Jupiter on March 16, 2026. Their new grand totals? Saturn has 285 and Jupiter has 101.

Via Minor Planet Center

Kelly Kizer Whitt

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About the Author:

Kelly Kizer Whitt – EarthSky’s nature and travel vlogger on YouTube – writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She’s been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children’s picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.



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