HUBBLE UNCOVERS SMALLEST MOONS YET SEEN AROUND URANUS (STScI-PR03-29)

FOR RELEASE: 11:00 a.m. (EDT) September 25, 2003

CONTACT:
Donna Weaver
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
(Phone: 410-338-4493; E-mail: )

Kathleen Burton
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
(Phone: 650-604-1731; E-mail: )

Mark Showalter
Stanford University and NASA Ames Research Center
(Phone: 650-604-3382; E-mail: )

Jack Lissauer
NASA Ames Research Center
(Phone: 650-604-2293; E-mail: )

PRESS RELEASE NO.: STScI-PR03-29


HUBBLE UNCOVERS SMALLEST MOONS YET SEEN AROUND URANUS

Astronomers have discovered two of the smallest moons yet found around
Uranus. The new moons, uncovered by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, are
about 8 to 10 miles across (12 to 16 km) -- about the size of San
Francisco. The two moons are so faint they eluded detection by the
Voyager 2 spacecraft, which discovered 10 small satellites when it flew
by the gas giant planet in 1986. The newly detected moons are orbiting
even closer to the planet than the five major Uranian satellites, which
are several hundred miles wide. The two new satellites are the first
inner moons of Uranus discovered from an Earth-based telescope in more
than 50 years. Images taken on Aug. 25, 2003 with Hubble's Advanced
Camera for Surveys were used to make the discovery. The International
Astronomical Union (IAU) will announce the finding today. The Hubble
telescope observations also helped astronomers confirm the discovery of
another tiny moon that had originally been spotted in Voyager pictures.

Electronic images, movies, and additional information are available at:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/2003/29
http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is operated by the
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), for
NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt,
MD. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

To receive STScI Inbox Astronomy: News Alert messages, visit
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/mailing.php or send an e-mail to
. Leave the subject line blank, and type the
word SUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. The system will respond with
instructions on how to confirm your subscription. Once you follow the
instructions, you will receive news alerts as they are issued. Alerts
will be sent to the e-mail address you use to subscribe. To unsubscribe,
send e-mail to . Leave the subject line blank,
and type the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. Please
unsubscribe using the email account that you used to subscribe to the
list.

INBOX ASTRONOMY: NEWS ALERT wrote in sci.astro:

The new moons, uncovered by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, are
about 8 to 10 miles across (12 to 16 km) -- about the size of San
Francisco.


I never knew San Fransisco was a suburb of Uranus.

--
CeeBee


Uxbridge: "By God, sir, I've lost my leg!"
Wellington: "By God, sir, so you have!"


Google CeeBee @ www.geocities.com/ceebee_2