New Moon Discovered Orbiting Uranus

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Video imagery:

·       Webb image of Uranus, rings, and moons: NASA, ESA, CSA

·       Timelapse of Webb Space Telescope images: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Maryame El Moutamid (SwRI), Matthew Hedman (University of Idaho), Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

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A collage of deep space photographs and images passes by. Text: News from the Universe. 

 

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September 5, 2025. New moon discovered orbiting Uranus. Rings appear around an image of Uranus. 

 

Text: Astronomers have identified a previously unknown moon orbiting Uranus using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. A small circle has a faint blue dot inside it just outside the outermost ring. The label S slash 2025 U1 is next to the circle. 

 

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Text: The small moon is estimated to be just six miles (in parentheses, 10 kilometers) in diameter. Now Uranus has a total of 29 moons. It has more small inner moons than any other planet. Time lapse images over the course of several hours show the new moon orbiting Uranus, along with the other known ones. 

 

Text: The many small moons create a complex environment with the planet's rings that scientists are still discovering. 

 

A diagram shows the names of the moons of Uranus and includes such names as Miranda, Cupid, Bianca, Puck, and Desdemona. 

 

The International Astronomical Union will approve a formal name for the new moon. 

 

All moons of Uranus are named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. 

 

This news was brought to you in part by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.