Team Finds New Moon to Join Uranus’ 20
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From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A team of astronomers has discovered a new moon around the planet Uranus, bringing the number of confirmed Uranian moons to 21.
The moon is tiny -- less than 12 miles across -- and part of a group of six small moons known as “the Uranian irregulars” because of their strange, wavy orbits.
The new moon is dwarfed by Uranus’ largest moons, Titania and Oberon, which are more than 900 miles across. The discovery has yet to receive a name; all other moons of the seventh planet are named after Shakespearean characters.
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