Scientists Uncover Three New Moons Orbiting Uranus and Neptune

Astronomers have recently expanded our understanding of the outer solar system by discovering two new moons orbiting Neptune and one around Uranus, increasing their moon counts to 16 and 28, respectively.

The newly found moon of Uranus, temporarily named “S/2023 U1,” is a small celestial body with a diameter of about 5 miles (8 kilometers). It takes 680 days to complete one orbit around Uranus, marking the first discovery of a moon around this planet in over twenty years, adding an exciting new member to Uranus’s lunar family.

Traditionally, moons of Uranus are named after characters from Shakespeare’s works, suggesting a future literary name for this discovery.

Meanwhile, the Neptune system has been enriched with two additional moons. The larger one, tentatively called “S/2002 N5,” measures around 14 miles (23 kilometers) across and orbits Neptune every nine years. Its companion, “S/2021 N1,” is smaller, with a diameter of 8.6 miles (14 kilometers), and takes 27 years to orbit Neptune.

These findings were made public by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, as Space.com reports.

The discovery process involved a global collaboration of astronomers, including experts from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Hawaii, and Kindai University. The detection and confirmation of these moons’ orbits relied on advanced observational techniques, specialized image processing, and precise observing conditions.

Observatories located in Hawaii and Chile, utilizing powerful telescopes such as the Magellan telescopes and the Very Large Telescope in Europe, were key to the success of these observations.

The unusual, highly inclined, egg-shaped orbits of the newly discovered moons provide significant clues about the formation processes of moons around distant planets, offering astronomers a deeper understanding of celestial mechanics in our solar system.