Webb Discovers New Moon around Uranus

Astronomers using the NASA / ESA / CSA James Webb space telescope detected a small unknown prior moon – S / 2025 U 1 – Uranus in temporarily orbit. Made in a series of webb images taken on February 2, 2025, the detection carries the total number of Uranus moon to 29.

This webb / Nircam image shows S / 2025 U1 as well as 13 of the 28 other known orbit moons from Uranus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STSCI / M. El Moutamid, Swri / M. Hedman, University of Idaho.

Located in the outdoor solar system, Uranus is the seventh planet of the sun.

Known as “lateral planet” for its extreme axial inclination, the cyan -colored ice giant has a deep atmosphere composed of hydrogen, helium and methane.

The 28 moons of Uranus include five major moons – Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel and Miranda – Discovery between 1787 and 1948.

Known as “literary moons”, the moons of Uranus are named for the characters of Shakespeare and the works of Alexander Pope.

Astronomers believe that the largest moons of Uranus are roughly equal to water ice and silicate rock.

“As part of the webb guest observer program, we found a satellite previously unknown to the ice giant,” said Dr. Maryame El Moutamid, researcher at the Southwest Research Institute.

“This object, by far the smallest object discovered to date, has been detected in a series of 10 long exhibitions obtained by the nearby webb infrared camera (Nirccac).”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa8joehgtg

The new moon, temporarily designated S / 2025 U 1, is on the edge of the interior rings of Uranus.

The object is estimated at only 10 km (6 miles) in diameter, assuming that it has a similar reflectivity (albedo) to the other small satellites of Uranus.

It is located about 56,250 km (35,000 miles) from its center in the equatorial plane of the planet, between the Ophelia and Bianca orbits.

Ophelia has a diameter of approximately 43 km (13 miles), while Bianca is an elongated object of approximately 64 per 46 km (40 per 29 miles) of dimension.

“It’s a small moon but an important discovery, something that even the spacecraft travel 2 from NASA did not see during its overflight almost 40 years ago,” said Dr. El Moutamid.

S / 2025 U 1 is the 14th member of the complex system of small moons in orbit around the largest moons Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon.

“No other planet has as many small interior moons as Uranus, and their complex inter-processes with the rings refer to a chaotic history that blurs the border between a ring system and a system of moons,” said Dr. Matthew Tiscareno, researcher at the STI Institute.

“In addition, the new moon is smaller and much lower than the smallest of the previously known interior moons, which makes it likely that even more complexity remains to be discovered.”