Astronomers Find New Moon Orbiting Planet Uranus

Astronomers have discovered the existence of a new moon around Uranus (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA A group of astronomers announced the discovery of a new moon in the Solar System. The moon, named S/2025 U1, orbits Uranus, the seventh-distance planet from the Sun.

The diameter of this month was only 10 kilometers so his presence was not detected by Voyager 2 while crossing Uranus in 1986. Astronomers have only discovered this month after using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

A team from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Colorado used JWST's Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) in detecting the S/2025 U1. They performed ten different exposures with a duration of 40 minutes to get a clear image.

With JWST's ability to see infrared light, a faint and distant moon like S/2025 U1 can also be done. Thanks to the discovery of this small month, the number of months orbiting Uranus has now increased to 29 objects.

S/2025 U1 orbits Uranus in a close circular trajectory. Most likely this month formed in its current position. It is about 56,000 km from the center of Uranus, very close when compared to the average distance of the Moon to Earth which reaches 384,400 km.

Most of Uranus' 29 months are named after the characters in the dramaten. S/2025 U1 will get the official name of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in the future.

"No other planet has as many moons as Uranus and their complex relationship with the ring hints at a chaotic history that obscures the boundary between the ring system and the moon system," said Matthew Tiscareno of the SETI Institute, launching Space on Monday, September 22.

Matthew added that the S/2025 U1 is smaller and fainter than the previously detected inner moon of Uranus. Therefore, Matthew believes that this month has 'more complexity needs to be revealed'.