Jupiter and Saturn had been trading the title for the most moons of any planet in the solar system. In February 2023, Jupiter, the larger planet, pulled ahead. Twelve new moons had been discovered, pushing its total number of moons to 92. But just a few months later, in May, another team of astronomers announced they had found 62 new moons orbiting Saturn (plus one moon a little earlier), bringing its total to 146 moons. This finding, which nearly doubled the number of known Saturn moons, marked the most moons ever discovered at one time.
The astronomer who led the team behind the impressive Saturn moon discovery was Edward Ashton. He began this research while a graduate student at the University of British Columbia in Canada in 2019. He now works as a postdoctoral fellow at the Academia Sinica's Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan. His research focuses on the solar system.
FINDING ALL THESE NEW MOONS WASN'T EXACTLY AN OVERNIGHT DISCOVERY. WHAT WAS THE PROCESS LIKE?
It certainly wasn't a quick discovery. I started this research almost five years ago.
Esta historia es de la edición March 2024 de Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
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Esta historia es de la edición March 2024 de Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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Who's Your Cousin?
The great apes are among the most popular animals in most zoos. Their actions, facial expressions, and family life remind us so much of ourselves. Have you ever wondered, though, how we might look to them?
Is it possible to die of boredom?
To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
THE PROBLEM WITH PALM OIL
Palm oil is all around you. It’s in sugary snacks like cookies and candy bars. It’s in lipstick and shampoo and pet food.
SERGE WICH
Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania.
ELODIE FREYMANN
When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark.
Guardians of the Forest
EARLY, MAKESHIFT WILDLIFE DRONES HELPED TO DETECT AND PROTECT ORANGUTANS.
APE ANTICS
The Whirling World of primate play
Dr. Ape Will See You Now
HUMANS AREN’T THE ONLY PRIMATES THAT USE MEDICATION.
THE LEFT OVERS
A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies have changed, too. It’s only taken us about six million years.
SO, WHAT IS A PRIMATE?
What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on.
