Arctic ice is melting faster than expected — and the culprit could be dust
NASA's most ambitious Arctic voyage to date has revealed surprisingly high concentrations of ice particles in clouds over Greenland, a clue that may help explain why Arctic ice is melting even faster than predicted.
"The Arctic is changing faster than anywhere else on the planet, so the question we're trying to ask here is: Is the Arctic going to change fast — or really fast?" Patrick Taylor, the deputy science lead for the mission known as ARCSIX, for Arctic Radiation Cloud Aerosol Surface Interaction Experiment, told Space.com.
This bold mission to one of the world's most forbidding regions involved sending a small fleet of instrument-laden planes, including a NASA C-130 and a P-3 Orion, to dart through Arctic clouds and drop buoys into gaps in iceberg-laden waters below. While agency scientists are still studying the data, which was collected last summer, they say it's already clear that dust from Greenland's increasingly exposed landmass is melting vulnerable sea ice toward northern parts of the globe.
It's like a self-reinforcing feedback loop that spells danger for one of the planet's most vulnerable regions.
The ARCSIX plane flew in the summer of 2024, from May until July 25, when seasonal sea ice melt was at its height. The team expected to find ice with a thickness of about 11.5 feet (3.5 meters); instead, they saw a thickness of just 7.2 feet (2.2 meters). "It's alluding to the fact that this thicker sea ice north of Greenland is not as sustainable as it once was," Linette Boisvert, the ARCSIX cryosphere lead, told Space.com.
The Arctic has lost about 12% of its ice every decade since satellite records began in 1979, equaling about 1.16 million square miles of ice (3 million square kilometers),an area bigger than Alaska, Texas, California and Montana combined — and the pace appears to be visibly accelerating, with Arctic sea ice now shrinking at a rate of 12.2% per decade, six times as fast as the 1990s.
Specifically, NASA launched ARCSIX to try to find out how long the sea ice in the Arctic had left, and the summer of flying yielded "the most comprehensive set of sea ice, cloud, radiation and aerosol measurements ever collected in the Arctic," Taylor said.
Collecting so much data in such a remote place was an extreme logistics challenge, requiring a team so large that NASA had to rent extra seats on a Space Force transport plane to ship cargo and extra supplies. "I get shivers just thinking about it," Christina McCluskey, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Science, told Space.com. One of the transport flights to Pituffik Space Base in far northeastern Greenland carried a NASA flag, a gift from the U.S. Space Force to the base commander, who displayed it proudly in the base coffee shop and community center.
To measure the thickness of the ice, NASA dropped buoys with thermometers attached to gaps between the floating ice. It was a tricky operation: some of the buoys were smashed apart by icebergs, while others were under threat by curious animals — which is one reason the buoys had to be painted white.
"If you make them a different color, polar bears become attracted to them and will destroy them,' says Taylor. Over time, he said, the surviving buoys will yield valuable data. "Because those buoys are simple points, the aircraft data that we took will tell us spatially what's the variability of that sea ice thickness … putting the two together will give us a clear picture of how thick this multi-year ice is."
Climate models — scientific estimates of how the Earth's climate might change in the future — run on supercomputers that have to process enormous amounts of data every day as clouds form and dissipate all over the world. One aspect of these models concerns particles within clouds, which are sometimes only nanometers wide, that need to be scaled up and measured across the surface of the Earth.
"The scales we need to understand are insane," says McCluskey. "Clouds are the most fascinating things on the planet, I see them as the way in which everything comes together."
NASA scientists looking at seven years of satellite data had previously found that 4.5% of clouds below 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) changed from liquid to ice when they became dusty. The scientists estimated that the clouds contained 93 nanograms of dust per cubic meter — but results from the ARCSIX mission are expected to reveal far higher dust concentrations.
"We're trying to figure out why we're finding all this ice in the clouds," says Taylor. "The answer could help scientists understand the pace of Arctic melt."
Clouds reflect sunlight and slow down the melting of ice, protecting the Arctic. Ice crystals make clouds heavier and more likely to dissipate, leaving the ice vulnerable to rays of hot sun. But the ice can't form in the clouds without something to latch on to. That's where the dust comes in, providing a kind of "seed" or "nucleus" for the ice to form around.
NASA scientists hypothesize that as the ice retreats, more of Greenland's exposed landmass is shedding dust, which is then carried north by heavy winds to form ice particles in the clouds above. These dust-heavy clouds then disappear more quickly and leave more Arctic ice exposed, hastening the melt.
"The sea ice north of Greenland had a giant opening in it in the summer months," says Boisvert. "We think it's caused by really warm, moist air being blown through Fram Strait,' a passage between Greenland and Svalbard, "up and towards the central Arctic."
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Further analysis of the data the team collected is expected to shed light on how quickly the Arctic will lose its ice.
"That's why these results are so important because they help quantify the amount of ice crystals and we can start plugging that into our models to understand how clouds will change," Julia Schmale, a German scientist who specializes in aerosols and their interactions with clouds, told Space.com.
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Newsweek
3 hours ago
- Newsweek
The New Hunt for Red October: How NATO Keeps Up With Russian Submarines
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Aerial view of the Nato Alliance reserach vessel Aerial view of the Nato Alliance reserach vessel Credits Clément Gargoullaud - Kraken Films Deep in the Arctic, on board NATO's only research vessel, green bars of data move across screens as computers whir, the noise occasionally rising in pitch. To the untrained eye, it all means little. But to NATO's lone scientific unit on board the NRV Alliance, it is a glimpse into how the rapidly changing Arctic could force the alliance to switch how it detects objects—and threats—lurking beneath the waves. One of these threats, and one notoriously hard to pick up, is Russian submarines. Climate change is making the task of finding them even more difficult. As the planet heats up, fresh water is seeping into the Arctic Ocean as the sea ice and the permafrost melts, while warmer waters from the Atlantic bleed in from the south. "Whereas in the past, we would have thought of the Arctic Ocean as a frozen desert, now, increasingly, it's being thought of as open water at some parts of the summer season," Klaus Dodds, a professor at the U.K.'s Royal Holloway, University of London, told Newsweek on board the vessel. "It's an ocean literally undergoing state change." That change in temperature and salinity—or levels of salt—has a heavy hand in influencing how sound moves in water. But knowing how sound travels under the waves is key for picking up threats the alliance otherwise wouldn't spot. This pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik shows the new Krasnoyarsk nuclear submarine during a flag-rising ceremony led by Russia's President at the Arctic port of Severodvinsk on December 11, 2023. This pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik shows the new Krasnoyarsk nuclear submarine during a flag-rising ceremony led by Russia's President at the Arctic port of Severodvinsk on December 11, 2023. KIRILL IODAS/POOL/AFP/Getty "When you talk about detecting, tracking, identifying submarines, this is something where you can build all the technology you want," the expedition's chief scientist, Gaultier Real, told Newsweek. But "if you don't know the environment in which you are deploying that, in which you're operating that, you're missing something." NATO's Nordic-Recognized Environmental Picture 2025 The Arctic region is made up of the Arctic Ocean—much of which is crusted with ice—and a collection of seas that are generally ice-free and much easier for ships to navigate, like the Barents Sea north of Norway and western Russia, or the northernmost swathes of the Atlantic. All these waters feature high up on the strategic priority lists of the eight states with Arctic territory, and, increasingly, further flung nations. Moscow has a grip on roughly 50 percent of the Arctic coastline. The seven other states with territory in the Arctic Circle include Canada, the U.S. and Norway, all of which are NATO members. The alliance, while keeping one eye on the Arctic Ocean, is typically more concerned about what Russia—and increasingly China—are doing in the ice-free waters of the slightly more southern seas. This is why the NATO scientists set sail on the NRV Alliance from the northern Norwegian city of Tromsø in early July, heading north toward Svalbard and around the Greenland Sea. Many months of work went into scrutinizing where the Arctic ice would be, pulling data from satellites, camera-rigged drones and an experimental radar to map out the best places to drop buoys. Each of these buoys carried hydrophones—microphones that record sound underwater—to pick up acoustic signals sent out from the NATO ship. The scientists would then know which signals to watch out for on the recorders after they bounce off the ice. Robotician working in the lab collecting datas from a previous sound recording. Robotician working in the lab collecting datas from a previous sound recording. Credits Clément Gargoullaud - Kraken Films A smaller boat would break away from the Alliance, dropping the buoys a few miles away from the main ship. The buoys drifted for hours or days before the scientists went back in search of their equipment, with their fingers crossed the hydrophones and their data were floating close by and intact. The signals sent from the NATO ship, however, were low power—and deliberately so. One reason is to protect the wildlife but another, said Real, is that stealth objects would keep as low a profile as possible. "Both from the scientific and the defense point of view, this is a project that we think is extremely important," Real said. "The fact that now this is an area in the world where everything is changing so fast makes it a fantastic playground for science, but also an area of huge strategical importance." The data from the experiments can be pieced together to create a model of how sound from any source travels in the Arctic waters, essentially identifying which sounds are emitted by different objects. NATO militaries can then use this model in their shadowing of Russian submarines as well as have a better idea of how to hide their own submarines from Moscow's surveillance. "We work for the safety, security, of the nations of the alliance, and what we provide to them is our research capability and how this can be translated to operational scenarios," Real said. "We can check with the experiment that we are doing that the models, that the way of operating the sonars is still efficient." "It probably isn't," he added. "It means that we need to adapt the tools that we have." Russia's Submarines During the Cold War, there was a "huge interest" in research that delved into sea ice, and how it could blur views of stealthy objects like submarines, Dodds said. There has also long been a focus on how salinity can toy with acoustics, he added. Russia's Pacific Fleet submarines parade off the port city of Vladivostok during the Navy Day celebrations on July 30, 2023. Russia's Pacific Fleet submarines parade off the port city of Vladivostok during the Navy Day celebrations on July 30, 2023. PAVEL KOROLYOV/AFP/Getty The same is true today. NATO has multiple ways of tracking Russian President Vladimir Putin's submarines, from using its own submarines to flying aircraft designed to hunt vessels in deep water. There are also cables zigzagging along the ocean floor and sensors that can listen in to what passes close by. But there's a common denominator. "I would say everything we do," retired U.S. Air Force General Glen VanHerck told Newsweek, "would be acoustic in nature." Until recently, VanHerck served as the commander of the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. The joint American and Canadian command oversees both states' Arctic operations. NATO nations can—and do—use other types of equipment, like magnetic anomaly detectors, infrared sensors or radar, said Sidharth Kaushal, a senior research fellow at the influential British think tank the Royal United Services Institute. But "acoustic sensors are by far the most effective way of picking up a submarine." "It's extremely important for NATO countries to be able to know where the Russian submarines are," said Katarzyna Zysk, a professor of international relations and contemporary history at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, closely linked to the Norwegian armed forces. Moscow has always been keen to slip away from NATO surveillance, Zysk told Newsweek. For Russia, sliding its submarines out of NATO's sight is a familiar game—and one it knows how to play well. "I would hope, or I would wish, I could say that we always track Russian submarines," Major General Gjert Lage Dyndal, the deputy commander of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, told Newsweek, speaking from the city of Bodø to the southwest of Tromsø. "But, of course, that is not the case." "Russian submarines are quite capable, quite quiet, and a challenge to Western nations to track globally, but also in the Arctic," VanHerck said. "They're not as challenging to track, sometimes, as they would be if they get into the open ocean, such as the Atlantic, where they are quieter, but they are certainly a challenge for us in the Arctic." A big part of Russia's submarine strategy is to skulk under the ice, able to threaten NATO with a preemptive attack or powerful retaliation, or simply the possibility they could transit under the ice to pop up close to NATO members' coastlines with highly destructive weapons ready to launch. "It's really hard to detect a submarine that is hiding under the ice," Zysk said. NATO Alliance research vessel docked in Gdynia Harbor, Poland NATO Alliance research vessel docked in Gdynia Harbor, Poland Credits Clément Gargoullaud - Kraken Films Russia has for years test-fired advanced missiles from submerged nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines in the Arctic. Some reports have even indicated Russia launched a missile that punched through ice at the North Pole. Russia's exact strategy on how and when it breaks through the ice is hard to discern. The Russian feeling has long been that the ice could be Moscow's friend. "There was a belief among Russian military, or really, more Soviet even, military strategists, that because of the icy conditions, NATO ships couldn't really get too far into the Arctic," said Dmitry Gorenburg, a senior research scientist focusing on the Russian military with CNA, a U.S.-based think tank. Now, although Russia still has a good few strategies up its sleeve—like hiding out in the deepest waters—Moscow may be feeling more exposed than ever in areas where it had long leaned on ice to fend off attention from its adversaries, particularly around its smaller bases. The ice is no longer judged to be enough protection, Gorenburg told Newsweek. "That's why you see a lot more positioning of coastal defense batteries [and] maritime patrol aircraft." Climate Change and Trade The Arctic, for the Kremlin, isn't just about defense. It's also about lucrative resources, an opening up of once-untraversable trade routes to commercial traffic and closer ties with China, a self-proclaimed "near-Arctic state" only upping its presence in the region. "One of Russia's major objectives has been to turn the Arctic into Russia's foremost base for natural resources," said Zysk. Russia's Arctic continental shelf contains more than 85 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, and 17 billion metric tons of oil, Russian state media reported in 2022. Other figures put the number at 13 billion metric tons of oil. Deck crew releasing new hydrophones Deck crew releasing new hydrophones Credits Clément Gargoullaud - Kraken Films Over the past 10 years, Russia's emphasis on the Arctic has been fed by the "belief that a lot of the economic resources that Russia is depending on are in the Arctic," from hydrocarbons to fisheries, said Gorenburg. "This is the greatest opportunity for them to develop industry," said Lage. Norway's military still has a direct line to Russia's commanders, mostly to resolve issues about fisheries and other resources, but also to avert any potential armed crises at sea between the neighbors, Lage said. Oslo shares around 120 miles of land border with Moscow, Norwegian soil stopping not far west of Russia's major military bases clustered around the Arctic cities of Murmansk and Severomorsk. The deputy commander refused to be drawn on any more specifics of how often the hotline is used, but said Oslo and Moscow spoke "when needed" and that the line of communication is always open. Russia's Build-Up in the Arctic Of course, the Arctic is crucial for Russia militarily too. At the top of its list of concerns is its huge naval and aerial presence in the Kola Peninsula, which sticks out east of Finland and Norway. These facilities are home to much of Russia's prized Northern Fleet, not least its all-important nuclear submarines and the attack submarines tasked with protecting them from any enemy strikes designed to take out Moscow's vast nuclear arsenal before they can launch. Sonar Representation of Ice Blocks Sonar Representation of Ice Blocks Credits Clément Gargoullaud - Kraken Films Russia also uses the Kola Peninsula as a jumping-off point to send submarines armed with conventional, long-range cruise missiles out toward the U.S. or the Atlantic via the waters between Greenland, Iceland and the U.K.—commonly referred to as the GIUK Gap. "The idea is that if they pass through undetected, then they could potentially put much of both Europe and the United States under threat from these cruise missile attacks," said Gorenburg. "They certainly could launch those missiles from the Arctic, but the range is such that they're better off going farther into the open ocean, rather than staying in the Arctic." Russia has, for quite a few years now, been reopening many of its Cold War-era Arctic bases while building new strongholds. The Simons Foundation Canada last year identified 69 military bases in the Arctic that are staffed all year round, belonging to the five of the states with coastlines in the Arctic and ranging from facilities also used by civilians to major nuclear weapons sites. Russia has 32 of these sites, with the U.S. figure standing at 10. Norway has 15 and Canada eight, according to the foundation's numbers. All the bases are in the Arctic region, but not necessarily above the line of latitude marking the Arctic Circle. Different judgment calls on what constitutes a military base, and whether it is a new facility, produce varying numbers. Either way, the shoring up of Russia's military presence in the Arctic is extensive. Russia watchers say Moscow channeled much of its efforts into strengthening its Northern Fleet on the Kola Peninsula, but also into early warning radars and a smattering of compact bases elsewhere in the Arctic, including the Franz Josef archipelago east of Norway's key outpost of Svalbard and Wrangel Island, roughly 300 miles from Alaska, that could host aircraft in a conflict. The Kremlin has a litany of other sites related to missile testing and launches as well as its space programs. Parts of the Arctic, like the Barents Sea, are a "testbed of Russian new systems," Lage said. This includes nuclear-powered torpedoes, long-range missiles, and other sophisticated technologies that are "still a high priority" for Russia. Drone equiped with Phase I high definition camera. Drone equiped with Phase I high definition camera. Credits Clément Gargoullaud - Kraken Films "I think we should be concerned" about Russia's expanding Arctic footprint, VanHerck said. There's no cause for "panic," the former commander added, "but we should make sure we monitor Russia's build-up and, more importantly, what is their intent with that build-up." "Russia's military posture in the Arctic is of grave concern," Iceland's Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir told Newsweek. "The Arctic remains central to Russia's strategic calculus, and its activities in the region go well beyond defensive measures." All this activity is propped up by a long history of Russian identification with the Arctic. "Geographically, it's an important part of Russia," Zysk said. "But also historically, first the Soviet Union, then Russia has taken a pride in being able to conquer this extremely difficult-to-navigate, difficult-to-live-in region." There is a self-perception of themselves as "northern people," added Gorenburg. "You see these kinds of symbolic acts in past years, even before they really started on the military build-up." Russia has repeatedly planted its tricolor flag on the North Pole, including delving down to the seabed in 2007. It has also put the work into building habitable cities with a significant civilian population—rather than just remote, military-focused outposts—above the Arctic Circle, Gorenburg said. "It's a different mentality." Has NATO Caught Up? Current and former military officials from NATO countries often concede that Russia is more comfortable operating in the Arctic. Russia's icebreaker fleet far outstrips that of any other military, an example of the country's determination to dominate the region. "Very, very few allied partners have the capability to operate over time in [the] ice-covered Arctic," said Lage. NATO nations have trouble "being able to operate not just for an exercise or two, but operate substantial forces over time," Lage said. The U.S. Navy, for example, holds its Arctic Ocean exercises, dubbed ICEX, just biennially. The ''Xue Long 2'' polar expedition icebreaker and the ''Polar'' icebreaking survey ship of the Beihai Bureau of the Ministry of Natural Resources are docking at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center pier in Qingdao, Shandong... The ''Xue Long 2'' polar expedition icebreaker and the ''Polar'' icebreaking survey ship of the Beihai Bureau of the Ministry of Natural Resources are docking at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center pier in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, on July 3, 2024. More Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty "We need the human aspect—more research that allows humans to operate in that environment," as well as more "domain awareness," said VanHerck. This broadly refers to how a military can detect and anticipate threats in each area, and plan accordingly. It's also "very tough to communicate" in the most northern areas of the globe, the former commander said. "It's a mental shift in how we're going to operate, but I don't believe we've done enough to operate in that environment," said VanHerck. But NATO has recognized in the past few years it will need to beef up its presence in the Arctic and do more in the High North, said Dodds. In May, NATO wrapped up what it described as the alliance's "biggest and most demanding annual anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise," Dynamic Mongoose. The U.S. has pivoted policy to focus more northward. In 2018, it resuscitated the U.S. Navy's Second Fleet to counter Russia, including in the Arctic, closely linked with the establishment of NATO's newest command, the Virginia-headquartered Joint Force Command Norfolk. Now well into his second term, President Donald Trump hasn't changed his stance on the Arctic when placed side-by-side with his first stint in office, said Kåre Aas, who served as Norway's ambassador to the U.S. when Trump initially swept into power. The president has maintained the status quo of intelligence cooperation between the two nations as they look toward the Arctic, he said. Trump's interest is certainly clear, if not always welcome to fellow NATO members. In the early months of this year, the administration frustrated Canada with attempts to label the country the U.S.'s 51st state, and Denmark through refusing to rule out military activity to seize Greenland for "international security." These types of remarks create "anger," Aas told Newsweek, but don't diminish the need for countries like Norway to keep the U.S. firmly as a close ally. "We need to also show the Americans why Norway is important to the United States." Norway is investing in anti-submarine warfare, or ASW, an area NATO turned away from as the tensions of the Cold War washed away. Norway's military says Moscow's submarine activity was high during the Cold War but dipped in the aftermath of the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Norway detected a surge in Russian submarine operations in the early 2010s, Lage said, but no dramatic increase in the last handful of years. Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 3. Twenty-nine nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, more... Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 3. Twenty-nine nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, more than 150 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC in and around the Hawaiian Islands, June 27 to Aug. 1. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity while fostering and sustaining cooperative relationships among participants critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2024 is the 29th exercise in the series that began in 1971. More U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class William Sykes Countries like Norway—plus others, including the U.K. and Germany—have beefed up anti-submarine aircraft fleets, most notably the P-8 Poseidon. Throughout July, Norway's military carried out P-8 training flights up and around Svalbard. Lage said Norway was "operating P-8s on [an] almost daily basis in the Barents Sea, in the Norwegian Sea and around Svalbard, wherever it's needed." Oslo is also investing in new frigates for anti-submarine warfare and submarines, although they won't be nuclear boats. But this branch of warfare is difficult and always has been, Lage said. "This is an ever-ongoing game between ever new, better submarines, and better ASW equipment," Lage added. "The greatest challenge today is the numbers—we have so few units, so international allied cooperation and [an] increase in numbers of capabilities, that is the most pressing [thing] today." "We are short on ASW capabilities" across NATO, he added. "We need to invest more." And, like in Europe, NATO still leans heavily on the U.S. to provide much of the alliance's most expensive capabilities in the Arctic region. This isn't just limited to the number of submarines, but also the sensor networks. But no individual NATO country can stare down Russia alone in the Arctic, current and former officials say—not even the U.S. "We need to operate as an alliance," VanHerck said. Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) poses for a group photo with naval officers of the Knyaz Pozharsky nuclear submarine's crew, while visiting the Sevmash Shipbuilding Plant, on July 24, 2025, in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk oblast, Russia.... Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) poses for a group photo with naval officers of the Knyaz Pozharsky nuclear submarine's crew, while visiting the Sevmash Shipbuilding Plant, on July 24, 2025, in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk oblast, Russia. Putin visited main Russia's military shipbuilding plant, marking the upcoming day of Russian Navy. More Contributor/Getty Back on the NRV Alliance, the context to their research hangs heavy in the air. "This is something that we are very conscious about," Real said from on board the ship, shortly after it docked in Tromsø. It would be hard not to be—especially after a Russian aircraft passed close over the vessel as it headed north near Svalbard not long after setting off. It was thought to be one of Russia's Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft or an Il-38, but it was difficult for the crew to be sure. For the moment, officials and experts say, no one wants conflict in the Arctic. But there's no ignoring the growing competition in a region many countries are more interested in than ever. "It's very quiet—until it's not quiet anymore," said Lage.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
NASA's Webb telescope discovers previously unknown moon orbiting Uranus
WASHINGTON - Astronomers using what is considered to be the most powerful space telescope ever built say they have discovered a previously unknown moon orbiting Uranus, expanding the count of the planet's natural satellites to at least 29. According to NASA, scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope spotted the small moon earlier this year and gave it the initial designation of S/2025 U1. "This object was spotted in a series of 10 40-minute long-exposure images captured by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam)," Maryame El Moutamid, lead scientist at the Southwest Research Institute's Solar System Science and Exploration Division in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement. "It's a small moon but a significant discovery, which is something that even NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft didn't see during its flyby nearly 40 years ago." The moon was estimated to be just six miles across and likely serves as the primary reason why previous missions, including a flyby by Voyager 2, have missed seeing the natural satellite until this year. S/2025 U1 is said to be the fourteenth member of Uranus' inner satellite system and the twenty-ninth overall. See The Objects Humans Left Behind On The Moon "No other planet has as many small inner moons as Uranus, and their complex inter-relationships with the rings hint at a chaotic history that blurs the boundary between a ring system and a system of moons," Matthew Tiscareno, a researcher at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, and a member of the Webb science team, stated. "Moreover, the new moon is smaller and much fainter than the smallest of the previously known inner moons, making it likely that even more complexity remains to be discovered." According to Nasa, Saturn has the most moons in our solar system, with the last count putting the number at 274, while both Mercury and Venus don't have any natural satellites. Like Uranus' other satellites, the new moon will eventually receive a formal name from the International Astronomical Union. The planet's moons have traditionally been named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Some of the known moons are Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon. The Moon Is Now Considered A Vulnerable Cultural Heritage Site Astronomers say the Webb's latest findings reinforce the need for a future spacecraft mission around one of the least-studied planets in the solar system. NASA and other space agencies have discussed launching an orbiter in the 2030s, which would study the planet's atmosphere, rings and apparent growing number of article source: NASA's Webb telescope discovers previously unknown moon orbiting Uranus
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Moon phase today: What the moon will look like on August 18, 2025
There's only a sliver of the moon on display tonight, but there's still a chance to see some cool geological features on its surface, if we look hard enough. The moon is looking a little darker right now due to where we are in the lunar cycle, a series of eight unique phases of the moon's visibility. The whole cycle takes about 29.5 days, according to NASA, and these different phases happen as the Sun lights up different parts of the moon whilst it orbits Earth. So let's see what's happening with the moon tonight, Aug. 18. What is today's moon phase? As of Monday, Aug. 18, the moon phase is Waning Crescent, and it is 25% lit up to us on Earth, according to NASA's Daily Moon Observation. We're on day 25 of the lunar cycle, so it's really close to the New Moon. There's not much moon on display, but there are a few things we can still look out for. With no visual aids other than your eyes, try and spot the Oceanus Procellarum and the Kepler Crater. These are positioned in the top left of the moon (bottom right, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere). With binoculars, see even more, including the Grimaldi Basin and the Mare Humorum, and with a telescope, enjoy a glimpse of the Reiner Gamma and the Schiller Crater, too. When is the next full moon? The next full moon will be on Sept. 7. The last full moon was on Aug. 9. What are moon phases? According to NASA, moon phases are caused by the 29.5-day cycle of the moon's orbit, which changes the angles between the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Moon phases are how the moon looks from Earth as it goes around us. We always see the same side of the moon, but how much of it is lit up by the Sun changes depending on where it is in its orbit. This is how we get full moons, half moons, and moons that appear completely invisible. There are eight main moon phases, and they follow a repeating cycle: New Moon - The moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye). Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere). First Quarter - Half of the moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-moon. Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it's not quite full yet. Full Moon - The whole face of the moon is illuminated and fully visible. Waning Gibbous - The moon starts losing light on the right side. Last Quarter (or Third Quarter) - Another half-moon, but now the left side is lit. Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again. Solve the daily Crossword
