Astronomers have found three new moons in our solar system. These new moons were previously unknown to humans. Two of these new moons are circling Neptune and one has been found circling around Uranus.
The distant tiny moons were spotted using powerful land-based telescopes in Hawaii and Chile. The announcement about the discovery of these new moons was made on Friday by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center.
With the latest discovery, the total number of known moons around Neptune and Uranus now stands at 16 and 28 respectively.
One of Neptune’s new moons has the longest known orbital journey yet. It takes around 27 years for the small outer moon to complete one lap around Neptune, the vast icy planet farthest from the sun, said Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington who helped make the discovery.
The new moon orbiting Uranus, with an estimated diameter of just 5 miles (8 kilometers), is likely the smallest of the planet’s moons.
“We suspect that there may be many more smaller moons” yet to be discovered, he said.
Meanwhile, America’s latest lunar Mission, Odysseus, may have landed sideways on the Moon’s surface. This mission is being executed by Intuitive Machines. Despite the unexpected landing, ground controllers are trying to gather photos and data from the spacecraft.
The spacecraft landed on the south pole of the lunar surface on Thursday evening after an anxious descent. Ground teams resorted to a backup guidance system and were able to establish radio contact with the Odysseus a few minutes after landing.
Intuitive Machines had initially reported that their spaceship had landed upright. However, the CEO Steve Altemus later clarified that the spacecraft had possibly tipped over during landing, and ended up lying horizontally with its top resting on a small rock. This revelation slightly dampened the enthusiasm surrounding the achievement.
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