Astronomers spot new small moons around Neptune and Uranus

Washington: Astronomers have found three previously unknown moons in our solar system – two additional moons orbiting Neptune and one orbiting Uranus.

The distant tiny moons were spotted using powerful ground-based telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, and announced Friday by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center.

The latest tally puts Neptune at 16 known moons and Uranus at 28.

One of Neptune’s new moons has the longest known orbital journey to date. Astronomer Scott Shepard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, who helped make the discovery, said the tiny outer moon takes about 27 years to complete one orbit around Neptune, the giant icy planet farthest from the sun.

The new moon orbiting Uranus, with an estimated diameter of only 5 miles (8 kilometers), is likely the smallest of the planet’s moons.

“We suspect there may be many more small moons” that have yet to be discovered, he said.

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