Using powerful ground telescopes... discovering 3 unknown moons in our solar system
Using powerful ground telescopes... discovering 3 unknown moons in our solar system
Astronomers have discovered 3 previously unknown moons in our solar system, including two additional moons orbiting Neptune and another orbiting Uranus.
The small, distant moons were observed using powerful ground-based telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, and were announced on Friday by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center.
The latest census indicates that Neptune has 16 known moons and Uranus has 28 moons.
One of Neptune's new moons has the longest orbital journey known to date
Scott Shepard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, who helped make this discovery, said that the small exomoon takes about 27 years to complete one orbit around Neptune, the huge icy planet farthest from the sun.
The new moon orbiting Uranus, which is estimated to be only 5 miles (8 kilometers) in diameter, is likely the planet's smallest moon.
“We think there may be many smaller moons” that have not yet been discovered, he said.
Source: websites