Two teams hunting Jupiter’s moons

Sheppard’s and Gladman’s 2003 surveys.

Published 2026-10-23

In 2003 two teams were hunting Jupiter’s faint irregular moons with the same telescope.^[4]

Sheppard’s team

Using the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope, Sheppard’s team found nineteen moons in February 2003.^[4]

Gladman’s team

An independent team led by Brett J. Gladman also used the CFHT in 2003, discovering four moons and co-discovering two with Sheppard.^[4]

The result

From 2000 to 2004 these surveys raised Jupiter’s known moon count from 17 to 63.^[4]

Recovering lost moons

From 2009 a team including Gladman began a campaign to recover Jupiter’s lost irregular moons.^[4]

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