A celestial speck that astronomers thought was a meteoroid is in fact
Jupiter’s 17th moon鈥攊ts smallest, and the first found for 26 years.
University of Arizona astronomers used the 36-inch telescope at Kitt Peak to
track the object for a month last year. They estimate that the object orbits
Jupiter once every two years at an average distance of 24 million kilometres.
The new moon may measure only 5 kilometres across, and it won’t get a permanent
name and number unless researchers spot it re-emerging from the Sun’s glare in
September.
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from 快猫短视频
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending 快猫短视频 articles
1
The best new science-fiction books of June 2026
2
Start-ups are racing to revolutionise mathematics with AI
3
Does gravity create reality? A shocking path to a theory of everything
4
Mathematical AI helps researchers crack 50-year-old problem
5
Pancreatic cancer halted by virus injection in three patients
6
Photons behave very strangely if you try to cut them
7
Why your brain needs plenty of 鈥淎ha!鈥 moments
8
How a radical new view of life could reveal its origin 鈥 and aliens
9
Aim high but don't shoot for the moon, mathematicians advise
10
Embryos made without sperm or eggs reveal why many pregnancies fail



