Mon. Oct 14th, 2024

Astronomers have discovered 3 previously unknown moons in our solar system, including two additional moons orbiting Neptune and another around Uranus.

Distant small moons were observed using powerful ground-based telescopes in Hawaii and Chile and announced on Friday by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center.

The latest census determines that Neptune has 16 known moons and Uranus 28, and one of Neptune’s new moons has the longest known orbital flight to date.

Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, who helped make the discovery, said: “It takes about 27 years for a small outer moon to complete a single orbit around Neptune, the massive icy planet farthest from the sun.

The new moon orbiting Uranus, estimated at just 5 miles (8 kilometers) in diameter, is likely to be the planet’s smallest moon, and Sheppard said: “We think there may be many smaller moons that have yet to be discovered.”

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