Uranus – New Moon

This timelapse animation shows the newly discovered moon of Uranus, designated S/2025 U1, as well as 13 of the 28 other known moons orbiting the planet. The observations by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) were taken over the course of about 6 hours on Feb. 2, 2025 under program ID 6379 (principal investigator: M. El Moutamid). The animation is comprised of data taken with NIRCam’s wide band F150W2 filter that transmits infrared wavelengths from about 1.0 to 2.4 microns. Due to the drastic differences in brightness levels, the animation is a composite of three different treatments of the data, allowing the viewer to see details in the planetary atmosphere, the surrounding rings, and the orbiting moons. The small moon Cordelia orbits just inside the outermost ring, but is not visible in these views due to glare from the rings.