NASA's Webb telescope finds a new tiny moon around Uranus
This is an image provided by NASA shows the planet Uranus, taken by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986. Credit: AP/Uncredited
NEW YORK — The Webb Space Telescope has spotted a new tiny moon orbiting Uranus.
The new member of the lunar gang, announced Tuesday by NASA, appears to be just six miles (10 kilometers) wide. It was spotted by the telescope's near-infrared camera during observations in February.
Scientists think it hid for so long — even eluding the Voyager 2 spacecraft during its flyby about 40 years ago — because of its faintness and small size.
Uranus has 28 known moons that are named after characters from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. About half are smaller and orbit the planet at closer range. The new moon, still nameless, ups the planet's total count to 29.
The new addition could hint at more bite-sized moons waiting to be found around Uranus, said planetary scientist Matthew Tiscareno with the SETI Institute, who was involved in the discovery.
“There's probably a lot more of them and we just need to keep looking,” said Tiscareno.
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