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We are far from the four moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo in 1610! Astronomers now count 79, 12 moons more than a year ago . The research, conducted by a team from the Carnegie Institution, led by Scott S. Sheppard, has also shown that one of these 12 new satellites has a "weird" behavior.
The moons of Jupiter are divided into three groups: the so-called Galilean satellites, four in number, whose dimensions make them the largest satellites of the entire Jovian system. Then come the so-called prograde moons which turn in the same direction of rotation as the giant planet . And finally, the moons retrogrades furthest, which turn in the opposite direction . Of the 12 satellites, 2 are prograde, while the remaining 10 are retrograde
If the prograde moons take about a year to circumnavigate Jupiter, it takes two years for the satellites of the swarm external. In this lot of distant moons, the scientists noticed that one of them had strange characteristics and behavior.
"An Unstable Situation"
"It is probably the smallest known moon of Jupiter, less than one kilometer in diameter ", explains astronomer Scott S. Sheppard. According to the research team, this moon named Valetudo – referring to the great-granddaughter of the Roman god Jupiter, the goddess of health and hygiene – could be one of the last samples of a larger body This small moon would allow scientists to elucidate fragments of the history of Jupiter.
In addition to its unusually small dimensions, the moon also acts in a strange way: being part of the group of outer satellites, it should turn into the opposite direction of the rotation of Jupiter. However, unlike the other moons of her group, she turns in the "normal" sense . The risk of collision with other satellites is therefore high: " Frontal collisions would break and quickly reduce other objects to dust," says Scott S. Sheppard.
A discovery by chance
In 2014, this same team had discovered "planet X" (also called "planet 9" or "Nibiru"), the giant celestial body having the most orbit distant known within our solar system and whose existence could explain the position "leaned" of the latter.
It was in the course of this research that the scientists fell, by chance, on the 12 new satellites : "Jupiter was in the field of research in which one explored the extremely distant objects of So we were able to study the new moons around Jupiter while searching for bodies on the periphery of our solar system, "said Scott S. Sheppard.
These discoveries were made in 2017 using various telescopes based in Chile, the United States and Hawaii. NASA's research directors and officials have stated that it took a year to understand and badyze the trajectories of the various moons, including Valetudo.
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