Astronomers have discovered three new moons orbiting Uranus and Neptune, bringing the total number of moons known to surround these ice giant planets to 28 and 14, respectively. The newly discovered moons were found using ground-based telescopes, and their discovery required special image processing techniques to reveal their faint presence.
The Uranus moons are named after characters from Shakespeare's plays, while the Neptune moons have yet to be officially named. The smallest of the Uranus moons, S/2023 U1, is only five miles wide and takes 680 days to orbit the planet. The Neptune moons were first observed in September 2021 and were confirmed using the Subaru telescope.
Detecting the fainter of the two Neptune moons required special observing conditions and the use of multiple exposures to bring out its presence.
"The three newly discovered moons are the faintest ever found around these two ice giant planets using ground-based telescopes," Scott S. Sheppard, an astronomer with the Carnegie Institution for Science who collaborated on the moons' discovery, said in a statement . "It took special image processing to reveal such faint objects." The Uranus moons are named after characters from Shakespeare's plays, while the Neptune moons have yet to be officially named. The smallest of the Uranus moons, S/2023 U1, is only five miles wide and takes 680 days to orbit the planet. The Neptune moons were first observed in September 2021 and were confirmed using the Subaru telescope.
Detecting the fainter of the two Neptune moons required special observing conditions and the use of multiple exposures to bring out its presence.
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