27 moons are already known to orbit Uranus, which is the third biggest planet in our solar system, but the two new ones appear to be nearer to the ice giant than any others. Little is known about Uranus, which is 20 times further from the sun than Earth is and smaller than similar ringed, gas planets Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter and Saturn are also closer to earth, which has made them easier to investigate. They have 67 and 62 moons respectively.
A lot of the information scientists have at their disposal was gathered by Voyager 2, which flew by 30 years ago, nine years after it was launched in 1977. However, two planetary scientists from the University of Idaho’s Moscow campus, Rob Chancia and Matthew Hedman, have used the old data to show there are wavy patterns in two of Uranus' 13 rings, called Alpha and Beta, consistent with the pulls of two little moons. They also suggested the moons are so tiny and dark - meaning they do not reflect light - they were written off as background noise by the spacecraft.
Analysis of numerical data gathered by Voyager 2 showed similar patterns in the Alpha and Beta rings to those caused by the pull of some of Uranus' other moons, such as Cordelia and Ophelia. The scientists predict if these two new moons exist they would each measure between two and nine miles across.
The discovery is not yet confirmed and the researchers are still in the process of publishing in a peer-reviewed journal. Mark Showalter from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in California, who has previously discovered moons around Uranus, told New Scientist the existence of the two new moons is "certainly a very plausible possibility".
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Picture courtesy: Mail Online
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