The latest is astronomers have just detected the likely existence of two more moons (i.e. moonlets) orbiting Uranus. For extra coolness, they did it with data obtained by the original Viking probes thirty years ago. Even all this time later, the data still has scientific value. (Science Daily: Uranus may have two undiscovered moons)
Here's a pic of Uranus just because it looks cool.
Uranus is seen in this false-color view from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope from August 2003. The brightness of the planet's faint rings and dark moons has been enhanced for visibility.
Credit: NASA/Erich Karkoschka (Univ. Arizona)
Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1, were launched 16 days apart in 1977. Both spacecraft flew by Jupiter and Saturn, and Voyager 2 also flew by Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 2 is the longest continuously operated spacecraft. It is expected to enter interstellar space in a few years, joining Voyager 1, which crossed over in 2012. Though far past the planets, the mission continues to send back unprecedented observations of the space environment in the solar system, providing crucial information on the environment our spacecraft travel through as we explore farther and farther from home.
Here's a pic of Uranus just because it looks cool.
Uranus is seen in this false-color view from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope from August 2003. The brightness of the planet's faint rings and dark moons has been enhanced for visibility.
Credit: NASA/Erich Karkoschka (Univ. Arizona)
- Science Daily
There are five moons in the image but it's not likely the two just detected are in it or they would already have been announced.
The scientists give tribute to NASA.
"It's exciting to see Voyager 2's historic Uranus exploration still contributing new knowledge about the planets," said Ed Stone, project scientist for Voyager, based at Caltech, Pasadena, California.
Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1, were launched 16 days apart in 1977. Both spacecraft flew by Jupiter and Saturn, and Voyager 2 also flew by Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 2 is the longest continuously operated spacecraft. It is expected to enter interstellar space in a few years, joining Voyager 1, which crossed over in 2012. Though far past the planets, the mission continues to send back unprecedented observations of the space environment in the solar system, providing crucial information on the environment our spacecraft travel through as we explore farther and farther from home.
- Science Daily
It is oddly exciting that even now there are still signals coming back from the Voyagers, I believe.
All this started the trail of how many moons are there now. The solar system has gained an incredible number of moons since I was a kid but I didn't realize how many. The two new moons will bring Uranus up to twenty-nine moons. Neptune has eleven. Saturn has sixty-two and Jupiter has sixty-seven.
The only ones who can possibly remember all the names now are the same kids who memorize the names of all the dinosaurs.
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