Saturn and Jupiter have been locked in a competition for the planet with the highest number of moons. But as it happens, Jupiter never really stood a chance: Saturn has just won by a huge margin. That’s because on Tuesday,

Saturn just solidified its title as ‘moon king’ with an updated tally of 274 satellites orbiting the gas giant. The record-breaking statistic puts Saturn way ahead of its moon-bearing competitors, as now the ringed planet is officially orbited by almost twice as many moons as all other planets in the solar system combined.

The ringed gas giant Saturn has officially replaced Jupiter as the planet in our solar system with the most moons. The International Astronomical Union officially recognized 128 new moons orbiting Saturn, bringing the new total up to 274 moons .

The objects around the ringed planet are tiny, but some of them may have formed relatively recently in the solar system’s history.

Saturn has dozens of new moons, bringing it to a total of 274. All of the new moons are between 2 and 4 kilometres wide, but at what point is a rock too small to be a moon?

Canadian and other researchers have confirmed Saturn as the solar system’s undisputed “moon king," after discovering 128 more moons circling the ringed planet.

Saturn leads the list of planets with the most moons since 2023. Now that a record discovery was published, it seems to be uncatchable at the top.

In 2023, astronomers discovered 62 new moons of Saturn, bringing its total to 145 moons and surpassing Jupiter. More recently, astronomers from Taiwan, Canada, the USA, and France have identified additional moons, increasing Saturn’s total to 274.

The International Astronomical Union formally recognised all of Saturn’s moons this week. The moons are yet to get names but it is confirmed that they will be named after Gallic, Norse and Canadian Inuit gods.

Saturn has taken an impressive lead in the "who has the most moons" race with Jupiter after the discovery of a further 128 natural satellites orbiting the gas giant. From 2019 to 2021, the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) repeatedly monitored the space around Saturn for signs of moons and other objects.