NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Discovers New Moon of Uranus
The research team that made the discovery estimates that the moon, dubbed S/2025 U1 for now (at least, until the International Astronomical Union assigns an official name), is just 10 kilometers, or six miles, across, making it particularly small. 'I could walk around this moon,' says Heidi Hammel, a planetary scientist and astrophysicist, who was not involved in the research.
In 1986 Voyager 2 flew within 81,800 km of Uranus's cloud tops and gave humans their first close-up glimpse of this giant planet. The spacecraft returned with images of 11 new moons, on top of the five that were already known. Since Voyager, astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes have spotted other tiny moons—ones as little 12 to 16 km in diameter. But 'this one was so small and so faint and so close to the bright ring system around Uranus that we missed it,' Hammel says.
On supporting science journalism
subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
A team led by the Southwest Research Institute detected the moon in images captured by the high-resolution Near-Infrared Camera on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) during a series of 10 40-minute-long exposures. 'The cameras on [JWST] are very sensitive,' Hammel says. 'They were designed to see the faintest galaxies in the universe,' as well as faint things that are close to very bright ones (such as the planet Uranus). NASA announced the moon's discovery today via a blog post.
'One of the reasons this moon is interesting is that it's very close to the main ring system,' Hammel says. Unlike Saturn's rings, which are packed together, Uranus's rings are more like Hula-Hoops, with lots of separation between each. The rings cluster between a main inner system and a faint outer one, Hammel says, and researchers speculate that the rings are sculpted by the planet's little orbiting moons.
There are still many questions about the new minuscule moon for astronomers to explore: How does it compare with other moons? What is its color and composition? JWST might help answer a few of these questions. But regardless of what comes next, the discovery shows 'how we can extend the horizons of our knowledge, even in our own solar system, using an advanced telescope like JWST,' Hammel says. 'And it helps us get a better understanding of what drives the phenomena in our solar system—like ''What is crafting that ring system around the planet Uranus?''
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 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
4 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
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Moon phase today: What the moon will look like on August 19, 2025
The moon is getting less and less visible each night, and it won't be long before we see nothing at all. 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. 19. What is today's moon phase? As of Tuesday, Aug. 19, the moon phase is Waning Crescent, and it is 16% lit up to us on Earth, according to NASA's Daily Moon Observation. We're on day 26 of the lunar cycle, and there's really not a whole lot for us to see tonight. With no visual aids other than your eyes, try and spot the Aristarchus Plateau. This is 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 with a telescope, enjoy a glimpse of the Reiner Gamma. 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
