Team Astronomers found something that seems to be an undiscovered moon orbiting Uranus. If this is confirmed, the discovery would mean that the giant blue-green ice planet would have 29 moons. The discovery was made using the Space Telescope James Webb (JWST), expanding the list of instrument’s achievements and raising the expectations that other novel discoveries can be made within the solar system.
Thanks to the JWST infrared camera, researchers took ten 40-minute uranium exposure and detected a petite, blurred dot accompanying other lodge giant. After the initial information collected, scientists estimate that it is a body with a diameter of about 10 kilometers, located 56,000 kilometers from the center of the planet.
This novel satellite is part of the group of 13 internal uranium moons, which are characterized by their irregular shapes and low brightness. It circulates just behind the outer edge of the main rings system of the planet, along with other nearby moons, such as Mab, Cordelia and Ophelia.
At the moment, the object is called the S/2025 U1 code. To confirm their status of a natural satellite, the team plans to make further observations; If his status of the moon is confirmed, he will receive the official name. Traditionally, Uranus moons were named after the characters from the works of William Shakespeare or Alexander of the Pope – such as Francisco, Stefano, Miranda, Trinculo, Ariel and so on. Each novel name of this or other newly discovered satellite must be approved by the International Astronomical Association.
William Herschel discovered the first two moons of uranium in 1787 – Titania and Oberon – six years after identifying the planet. Dozens of others have been found since then. The last time observatory detected an official satellite in 2003, when Margaret was found using the Hubble telescope. Together with S/2025 U1 there is another unnamed moon, it also waits for confirmation, S/2023 U1, which was discovered two years ago. In total, the scientific community identified 29 moons (including these two expectations for confirmation).
Discovery S/2025 U1 means a novel step in observing the solar system. Neither the Hubble telescope nor the Voyager 2 probe, which flew through Uranus in 1986, could find this moon; The fact that JWST was able to discover it suggests that there is even greater complexity in Uranian ring system, and that thanks to this novel tool there may be more discovering.
“Looking to the future, the discovery of this moon emphasizes how modern astronomy is still based on the heritage of missions such as Voyager 2, which flew next to Uranus on January 24, 1986 and gave humanity the first look at this mysterious world,” said Maryame El Moutamid, the leader of the team who conducted the study, in NASA statement. “Now, almost four decades later, James Webb’s spatial telescope pushes this border even further.”
This story originally appeared Wired in Spanish and was translated from Spanish.