Voyager missed it, but James Webb Just Found Uranus' hidden moon
2 days ago
- #Space Exploration
- #Uranus
- #Astronomy
- Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) discovered a new moon around Uranus, increasing its total moon count to 29.
- The newly found moon, provisionally named S/2025 U 1, is about six miles (10 km) in diameter and was missed by Voyager 2 in 1986.
- The discovery was made by a team led by Dr. Maryame El Moutamid from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) using JWST's Near-Infrared Camera.
- Uranus' moons are named after characters from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope's works, and the team is considering a fitting name for the new moon.
- The new moon orbits between Ophelia and Bianca, two of Uranus' existing satellites, and is located near the planet's inner rings.
- Voyager 2, which flew by Uranus in 1986, was unable to detect this small moon due to its size and low reflectivity.