James Webb Space Telescope Discovers New Moon Orbiting Uranus
Astronomers have identified a previously unknown moon orbiting Uranus, increasing the planet's known satellites to 29.
Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a previously unknown moon orbiting Uranus, bringing the planet's total known satellites to 29. The moon, designated S/2025 U1, was identified through a series of 40-minute long-exposure images captured by the telescope's Near-Infrared Camera on February 2, 2025.
Measuring approximately 6 miles (10 kilometers) in diameter, S/2025 U1 is the 14th known member of Uranus's inner moons, which orbit closer to the planet than its five largest moons: Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. The new moon follows a nearly circular orbit about 35,000 miles (56,000 kilometers) from Uranus's center, situated between the orbits of the moons Ophelia and Bianca.
The discovery was led by Maryame El Moutamid of the Southwest Research Institute. El Moutamid noted that the moon's small size and faintness likely contributed to its previous undetection, even by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft during its 1986 flyby.
Matthew Tiscareno of the SETI Institute highlighted the significance of the find, stating that the new moon's small size and faintness suggest that even more complexity remains to be discovered within Uranus's system.
The International Astronomical Union will assign an official name to S/2025 U1, continuing the tradition of naming Uranian moons after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.