Astronomers have made an exciting discovery in our solar system, finding a new moon orbiting Uranus and two moons around Neptune. These tiny satellites were spotted as faint specks in the outer reaches of the solar system after hours of ground-based observations. The discovery was made by Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science, using observatories in Chile and Hawaii.
The new Uranian moon, temporarily named S/2023 U1, is the first to be discovered around Uranus in over 20 years. It is believed to be the smallest moon among the 28 that orbit Uranus. With a width of only 5 miles (8 kilometers), it takes 680 days to complete one orbit around the ice giant. Interestingly, most of Uranus’ moons are named after characters from Shakespeare’s works, and this new moon will eventually be renamed to follow the tradition.
Moving on to Neptune, Sheppard also discovered two previously unknown moons around the farthest known planet from the Sun. The brighter of the two, named S/2002 N5, has a width of 14 miles (23 km) and takes nearly nine years to complete its orbit. Sheppard used the Magellan telescopes in Chile to confirm its orbit. The second Neptunian moon, called S/2021 N1, is fainter and measures 8.6 miles wide (14 km). It takes a staggering 27 years to complete one orbit around Neptune. Securing its orbit required ultra-pristine conditions at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope and Gemini Observatory’s 8-meter telescope.
Sheppard and his team used a combination of observatories and image processing techniques to reveal these faint objects. By capturing multiple exposures over several hours on different nights, they were able to layer the images together and bring out the moons from the background noise. This method allowed them to overcome the challenge of capturing deep images of moving objects.
The orbits of all three newly discovered moons are eccentric, distant, and inclined. This suggests that they were captured by the gravitational pull of Uranus and Neptune after the ice giants had already formed. These findings provide valuable insights into the formation and evolution of our solar system.
The discovery of these new moons highlights the ongoing efforts of astronomers to explore and understand the outer reaches of our solar system. With advancements in technology and observation techniques, we continue to uncover fascinating celestial objects that contribute to our understanding of the universe.