Astronomers have discovered two tiny moons orbiting Neptune and one circling Uranus, bringing the number of their known moons to 16 and 28 respectively. Uranus’ new moon, the first detected around the ice giant in over two decades and possibly the smallest of its ilk, is just 5 miles (8 kilometers) wide; it takes 680 days to complete one orbit around Uranus. In comparison, one Mars’ moons named Deimos, considered to be among the tiniest known moons in our solar system, is 8 miles (13 km) wide. The new moon…
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Ringing in the Holidays
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI The ice giant Uranus and its rings steal the show in this Dec. 18, 2023, image from the James Webb Space Telescope. The telescope captured new images of Uranus, revealing detailed features of the planet’s rings and seasonal north polar cap, as well as bright storms near and below the southern border of the cap. This Webb image also shows 14 of the planet’s 27 moons: Oberon, Titania, Umbriel, Juliet, Perdita, Rosalind, Puck, Belinda, Desdemona, Cressida, Ariel, Miranda, Bianca, and Portia. Webb’s extreme sensitivity also picks…
Read MoreThe rings of Uranus look positively festive in epic James Webb Space Telescope holiday photo
They may not be the gold rings from “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” but Uranus and its rings stand resplendent in this stunning portrait from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It’s the second image of Uranus that the JWST has captured this year. The first, released in April, was a two-toned affair composed of imagery captured at infrared wavelengths of 1.4 and 3.0 microns. This new image adds extra wavelengths, specifically 2.1 and 4.6 microns, to give a much more complete overview of the seventh planet from the sun. …
Read MoreUnwrapping Uranus and its icy secrets: What NASA would learn from a mission to a wild world
Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, orbits in the outer solar system, about two billion miles (3.2 billion kilometers) from Earth. It is an enormous world – quadruple the diameter of Earth, with 15 times the mass and 63 times the volume. Unvisited by spacecraft for more than 35 years, Uranus inhabits one of the least explored regions of our solar system. Although scientists have learned some things about it from telescopic observations and theoretical work since the Voyager 2 flyby in 1986, the planet remains an enigma. It’s…
Read MoreWhere Did the Ice Giant Planets Form?
Conventional planet formation scenarios have Neptune and Uranus forming closer to the Sun. But a new study shows that the ice giant planets could have formed right where they are now. The post Where Did the Ice Giant Planets Form? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreUranus Queues Up for Opposition
Journey to a remote planet then double back to check in on the latest stirrings of Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann before touching the finger of dawn. The post Uranus Queues Up for Opposition appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreHail-like “Mushballs” May Fall on All Our Giant Planets
“Mushballs,” first inferred to exist on Jupiter, may fall within the atmospheres of all the solar system’s giant planets. The post Hail-like “Mushballs” May Fall on All Our Giant Planets appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
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