American researchers have discovered 12 new moons in Jupiter’s orbit, bringing the total number of known moons around that planet to 79, it was announced on Tuesday.
Scott Sheppard from the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington and his team discovered the moons more than a year ago while looking for a possible planet beyond Pluto.
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“Jupiter was in the sky near the area where we were searching for extremely distant objects in the solar system,” Sheppard said in a statement from the Carnegie Institution.
The team then fortuitously spotted the new moons, he added.
Gareth Williams from the International Astronomical Union for Small Bodies confirmed the finding.
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“It takes some time to study to confirm that an object is orbiting Jupiter,” Williams said. “The whole process took a year.”
