The main dishes on the moons of Uranus:
- Uranus has 29 moons in orbit. The first two moons Herschel spotted in 1787 were Oberon and Titania, and they are the biggest moons in Uranus.
- There is another uranus moon that the James Webb space telescope discovered in February 2025. This weak moon, about 6 miles in diameter, carries the total number of the planet to 29, and it is the fourteenth inner moon discovered.
- The moons of Uranus bear the names of the characters of Shakespeare and Alexander Pope, unlike many other moons of the solar system which bear the names of the Roman characters.
Many of us will know Uranus like the seventh planet of the sun or like the butt of a cosmic joke. This incredibly cold ice giant on a planet is not only about four times the size of the earth, but also has a large number of spectacular moons, with the possibility that more is discovered in the near future.
In 1781, astronomer William Herschel discovered Uranus, but he was not designated as planet until two years later. Shortly after the discovery of the planet, astronomers spotted the moons.
The first two moons Herschel spotted in 1787 were Oberon and Titania, and they are the biggest moons in Uranus. Two others quickly followed with the observation of Ariel and Umbriel, until Gerard Kuiper found Miranda in 1948.
When the NASA Voyager 2 spacecraft went through Uranus in the 1980s, it spotted 10 additional moons ranging from 16 miles to 96 miles in diameter. This ship remains the only spaceship to have explored Uranus and its moons. Progress of astronomy and the $ 1 billion hubble space telescope have enabled scientists to identify 15 other moons much lower than Big Five.
Learn more: Astronomers have a new theory why Uranus is running for its part
Another uranus moon
In an incredible feat, scientists recently discovered another new orbit moon from Uranus. This light moon, about 6 miles in diameter, brings the total number of the planet to 29, and it is the fourteenth inner moon discovered. Uranus moons are distributed through the low rings of the planet, which consist of ice and dust particles, each of which is named from a Greek letter.
“There is no moon in the middle of the new ring as long as we are,” explains Tiscareno. “Perhaps we will discover one, but at this point, it could indicate that there was a moon there, and it separated into this ring.”
It is believed that these interior moons are made up of ice and rock, but what the external moons are still unknown.
What is unique in the moons of Uranus?
Uranus and his moons are unique for many reasons. First, Uranus orbits the sun on the side to an inclination of 98 degrees, and its moons follow the plunge. This alludes to scientists that the planet underwent a huge collision in space, perhaps with another planet the size of the earth which struck it on its side. Other theories exist, and it is not entirely understood how Uranus came in orbit on the sun, but no other planet of our solar system organs the sun in this way.
Some of its moons have unique characteristics. Nicknamed the “Frankenstein Moon”, Miranda is the smallest of the main moons at 293 miles in diameter. Its nickname is due to its difficulty surface, giving the appearance that it was paved together. Its surface is sculpted by huge fault lines which are up to 12 times deeper than the Grand Canyon. Scientists believe that Miranda has been broken by a collision once or more times before reforming in a random and fractured structure that we can see today.
Ariel, the youngest and most brilliant of the main moons of Uranus, can also have an ocean buried with liquid water. According to researchers, two of its small moons – Cressida and Demonda – should crash in about a million years.
What are the names of Uranus moons?
Uranus moons are also unique for their names. The moons of other planets tend to derive their names from Greek or Roman mythology. The moons of Uranus, however, have their namesake in the characters of the works of Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. His biggest moons are named Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon. The new moon, so far awarded the rather dry scientific name of S / 2025 U1, will also be known in this way.
As Tiscareno explains, no other planet has such a quantity of small interior moons than Uranus. It is possible that more to discover and that this number of 29 can increase well in the years to come.
The last moon is an exciting discovery, explains Matthew Tiscareno, a planetary scientist from the Seti Institute in Mountain View, California, who was part of the team that found it. “This moon that we have just discovered is the smallest by a good deal,” he says. “This is probably the first of an extra number.”
Learn more: The outer moons of Uranus have gathered dust, darkening their front sides
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