Wednesday, 27 August, 2025
NASA announced Tuesday that the James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a new, small moon orbiting Uranus.
The moon, estimated to be just six miles (10 kilometers) wide, was detected in February using the telescope’s near-infrared camera. Scientists believe it remained hidden for decades due to its faintness and small size, escaping even Voyager 2’s flyby nearly 40 years ago.
With this discovery, Uranus now has 29 known moons, most of them named after characters from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. The latest addition is yet to be named.
Trump administration targets NASA carbon, plant health missions for shutdown
Planetary scientist Matthew Tiscareno of the SETI Institute, part of the discovery team, suggested more tiny moons could still be waiting to be found. “There’s probably a lot more of them, and we just need to keep looking,” he said.
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NASA announced Tuesday that the James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a new, small moon orbiting Uranus.
The moon, estimated to be just six miles (10 kilometers) wide, was detected in February using the telescope’s near-infrared camera. Scientists believe it remained hidden for decades due to its faintness and small size, escaping even Voyager 2’s flyby nearly 40 years ago.
With this discovery, Uranus now has 29 known moons, most of them named after characters from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. The latest addition is yet to be named.
Trump administration targets NASA carbon, plant health missions for shutdown
Planetary scientist Matthew Tiscareno of the SETI Institute, part of the discovery team, suggested more tiny moons could still be waiting to be found. “There’s probably a lot more of them, and we just need to keep looking,” he said.
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