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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Six Moons of Saturn
NASA ^ | 11 Aug, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Alexandre Trentini

Posted on 08/11/2026 1:33:39 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: How many moons does Saturn have? While the total will likely continue to grow, as of June 2026 the ringed gas giant had 293 confirmed moons. That's easily more than any other planet of the Solar System, including ruling gas giant Jupiter with a mere 115 confirmed moons. Most of Saturn's known moons are small, irregular satellites. Many are only few kilometers to a fraction of a kilometer across and grouped in tilted outer orbits. Six of its largest satellites can be seen here, though, in this sharp telescopic Saturnian family portrait taken on August 5. Larger than Earth's Moon and even slightly larger than inner planet Mercury, Titan, with a diameter of 5,150 kilometers, is at lower right. You can also spot icy major moons Mimas, Tethys, Enceladus, Dione, and Rhea in the frame. Saturn's first known natural satellite, Titan was discovered in 1655 by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. During the space age Voyager and Cassini discoveries have added to the swelling ranks of Saturnian moons.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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1 posted on 08/11/2026 1:33:39 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 08/11/2026 1:33:58 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

3 posted on 08/11/2026 1:34:35 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

The title “Six Moons of Saturn” sounds like a perfect cheesy sci fi from the 1950s—or maybe a serial thriller in the 1930s featuring our hero, Ace Bandon, Space Cadet and his dog Astro...


4 posted on 08/11/2026 1:56:50 PM PDT by abigkahuna
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To: MtnClimber

I think that when I was first reading about astronomy, in grade school, Saturn had 9 known moons and Jupiter had 12 (but some of the older books said 11).


5 posted on 08/11/2026 1:59:42 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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