A team of Astronomers have found what seems to be an un discreal moon in orbit from Uranus. If it were confirmed, this observation would mean that the gigantic blue-green glacial planet would have 29 moons. The discovery was made using the James Webb space telescope (JWST), extending the list of instruments of the instrument and increasing expectations that another new discovery could be made in the solar system.
With the JWST infrocuum camera, the researchers took ten 40 -minute Uranus exhibitions and detected in tiny blurred points accompanying the other moons of the freezing giant. With the preliminary information collected, the researchers believe that it is a body of approximately 10 kilometers in diameter, located 56,000 kilometers from the center of the planet.
This new satellite is part of the group of 13 inner moons of Uranus, which is characterized by their rugular forms and their weak light. It just orbit the outside edge of the main ring system on the planet, as well as other moons nearby such as Mab, Cordelia and Opelia.
For the moment, the object has the code name S / 2025 U1. To comply with its status as a natural satellite, the team plans to make other observations; If his moon status is entrusted, he will then receive an official name. Traditionally, the moons of Uranus have been named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope – like Francisco, Stefano, Miranda, Trinculo, Ariel, etc. Any new name for this one or any other newly discovered satellite must approve by the international astronomical union.
William Herschel discovered the first two moons of Uranus in 1787 – Titania and Oberon – six years after identifying the planet. Dozens of others have since been found. The last time the observatory detected an official satellite was in 2003, when Margaret was found, use the Hubble telescope. With S / 2025 U1, there is another nameless moon that also awaits confirmation, S / 2023 U1, which was discovered two years ago. In total, the scientific community identified 29 moons (including these two confirmation pending).
The discovery of S / 2025 U1 marks a new step in observation of the solar system. In the Hubble telescope nor the Travel 2 probe which stolen by Uranus in 1986 was able to find this moon; The fact that the JWST could find out suggests that there is a more complex styl to discover with the Uranus ring system, and that Anyks to this new tool, more discovery could follow.
“In the meantime, the discovery of this moon underlines how modern astronomy continues to rely on the legacy of mission as traveling 2, which exceeded Uranus on January 24, 1986, and gave humanity a close look at this mysterious world”, declared Maryame El Moutamid, leader of the team which conducted the study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, A study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, in a study, study, in a study NASA declaration. “Now, almost four decades later, the James Webb space telescope pushes this still farm.”
This story initially looked at Wired in Español and was translated from Spanish.
