It's incredible to me that something like this is possible. A quick bit of math and a search for the closest Uranus is to Earth suggests that finding the smaller moon is like spotting the head of...
It's incredible to me that something like this is possible. A quick bit of math and a search for the closest Uranus is to Earth suggests that finding the smaller moon is like spotting the head of a pin from 325 km (or 202 miles) away. And that's the best case, while also being done on Earth, with all that pesky atmosphere making things even more difficult. It's just astounding.
This isn't really productive discussion, I just find it funny that the headline is "announced" and not "discovered," like God decided to release new astronomy DLC for the solar system.
This isn't really productive discussion, I just find it funny that the headline is "announced" and not "discovered," like God decided to release new astronomy DLC for the solar system.
Personally, I think they should focus on ensuring the existing moons are feature-complete before they add any more. We have too many moons that are essentially reskins of existing objects.
Personally, I think they should focus on ensuring the existing moons are feature-complete before they add any more. We have too many moons that are essentially reskins of existing objects.
This new faint neptunian moon in particular claims the new spot of most distant moon with the longest orbital period from it's planet in the whole solar system, beating Neso to this accolade.
Washington, D.C.— The Solar System has some new lunar members—the first new moon of Uranus discovered in more than 20 years, and likely the smallest, as well as two new moons of Neptune, one of which is the faintest moon ever discovered by ground-based telescopes. The discoveries were announced today by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center.
The new Uranian member brings the ice giant planet’s total moon count to 28. At only 8 kilometers, it is probably the smallest of Uranus’ moons. It takes 680 days to orbit the planet. Provisionally named S/2023 U1, the new moon will eventually be named after a character from a Shakespeare play, in keeping with the naming conventions for outer Uranian satellites.
The brighter Neptune moon now has a provisional designation S/2002 N5, is about 23 kilometers in size, and takes almost 9 years to orbit the ice giant. The fainter Neptune moon has a provisional designation S/2021 N1 and is about 14 kilometers with an orbit of almost 27 years. They will both receive permanent names based on the 50 Nereid sea goddesses in Greek mythology.
This new faint neptunian moon in particular claims the new spot of most distant moon with the longest orbital period from it's planet in the whole solar system, beating Neso to this accolade.
Discovering all three of the new moons required taking dozens of five-minute exposures over three- or four-hour periods on a series of nights. These exposures were shifted by the apparent motion of each respective planet and added together to create one very deep image. Using this time intensive observing technique on some of the largest telescopes in the world allowed the survey images to go deeper than any previous observations near Uranus and Neptune.
It's incredible to me that something like this is possible. A quick bit of math and a search for the closest Uranus is to Earth suggests that finding the smaller moon is like spotting the head of a pin from 325 km (or 202 miles) away. And that's the best case, while also being done on Earth, with all that pesky atmosphere making things even more difficult. It's just astounding.
This isn't really productive discussion, I just find it funny that the headline is "announced" and not "discovered," like God decided to release new astronomy DLC for the solar system.
Personally, I think they should focus on ensuring the existing moons are feature-complete before they add any more. We have too many moons that are essentially reskins of existing objects.
Starfield all over again smh
Wake up babe new moons just dropped
He's just releasing new content to try to distract from the many scandals his moderators are embroiled in.
Coming soon to a solar system near you! (´◔‿ゝ◔`)━☞
This new faint neptunian moon in particular claims the new spot of most distant moon with the longest orbital period from it's planet in the whole solar system, beating Neso to this accolade.