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The solar system record for the largest number of moons has just been taken over by Saturn. Previously Jupiter was the record holder with 79. Now the moon record in our Solar System goes to Saturn with 82!

Astronomers used some of the world's largest telescopes, including the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii to make the recent discoveries. The same team led by Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., discovered 12 previously unknown moons around Jupiter a year earlier. Now they have helped Saturn pull ahead of the competition.

Here we are living on a planet with only one moon. Should we feel disadvantaged? Not at all! Imagine how confusing it would be to live on a planet with 82 moons. Seriously, one is enough. That is especially true when we have one moon that is just right. We have pointed out before how precisely well-designed and well-placed our lone moon is. Here are a few reminders. Our Moon …

• has just the right mass to stabilize Earth's rotational tilt.
• is just the right distance from Earth to create beneficial ocean tides.
• is just the right size to create total solar eclipses, which have helped us to learn more about the Sun.
• works with the Sun and stars to mark seasons and days and years (Genesis 1:14).
• reflects the light of the Sun to give a night light essential for many forms of life.

Those are a few of the reasons our Moon is the best one in the whole solar system! How many moons are enough? Even though the number of known moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn has changed, the answer is still the same. One moon, precisely designed and positioned, is exactly what we need. We hold the moon record in the solar system for the best moon of all! There are too many “coincidences” for it to be an accident. We see the work of a Creator, who is an amazing Engineer.

Picture credits:
© kdshutterman. Image from BigStock.com.