Scientists discover 12 new moons orbiting Jupiter while hunting for the elusive Planet X

While hunting for the elusive Planet X, astronomers have discovered 12 additional moons around Jupiter, bringing the grand total of the planet’s known satellites up to a whopping 79. “We thought we might find a few more moons by covering the whole Jovian system in one exposure, which hadn’t been done before.” The researchers deliberately picked fields to image that would allow them to see Jupiter’s moons without the bright light from the planet itself getting in the way. “The chances of us seeing an impact in any one year is vanishingly small, but it is likely in the life of the solar system,” said Gareth Williams, an astronomer at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who determined the orbits of the newly discovered moons for the International Astronomical Union. Williams said he was not surprised by Sheppard’s discovery of additional moons around Jupiter.