Webb telescope spots a new moon orbiting Uranus
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has discovered a previously unknown moon orbiting Uranus, increasing the planet's moon count to 29. The new moon is estimated to be only six miles wide and orbits about 35,000 miles from Uranus' center, in the planet's equatorial plane. The moon's nearly circular orbit suggests it may have formed near its current location. This discovery adds to the 13 other small moons in Uranus' orbit, as well as the planet's five major moons and 10 irregular ones. The new moon will not be named until the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approves a name. The detection was made using 10 long-exposure images captured by JWST's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), and the discovery highlights the complex and chaotic history of Uranus' moons, blurring the boundary between a ring system and a system of moons.
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