12 new moons have been discovered in orbit around Jupiter, and one is an 'eccentric'

Jupiter had 12 new moons on Tuesday, July 17th. Well, not exactly. These dozens of moons have, of course, always been in the orbit of Jupiter, but it is only this week that researchers from the Carnegie Institution for Science have announced their discovery. The addition of these 12 brings the total number of moons (as we know them) to 79. As you can imagine, it is much more than any other planet in our solar system can boast.

While the research team suspects the existence of these 12 moons for about a year, it takes several observations to confirm that an object is, in fact, orbiting Jupiter. As such, the team took its time to confirm the new Jovian moons

The scientists made their latest discovery while they were looking for another extraterrestrial body – the Planet X, the suspected planet of Exist somewhere beyond Pluto. "Jupiter was right in the sky near the search fields where we were looking for extremely distant solar system objects, so we were able to search for new moons around Jupiter while searching for planets at the limit of our solar energy. Said team chief Scott S. Sheppard in an announcement.Of the 12 new moons discovered, 11 are described as normal moons, while the other is a "strange".

What makes it odd? Apparently, it is only 1 kilometer wide, which means it's the smallest moon that scientists have discovered in orbit around the planet, and that It takes a year and a half to take a complete turn around Jupiter and its orbit crosses the other moons in retrograde (those that move in the opposite direction of Jupiter's rotation). That is to say at a certain moment, several read could collide. "It's an unstable situation," noted Sheppard. "The frontal collisions would break down quickly and reduce the objects to dust."

This discovery could actually give scientists clues as to the formation of moons and planets as a whole. As the team noted in its announcement, "Elucidating the complex influences that have shaped the orbital history of a moon can teach scientists the early years of our solar system." In this case, determine that there are still several small moons around Jupiter suggests after the formation of the planets.