Two Uranus moons can crash into each other

Scientists predict that Uranus's two moons will collide with each other for about 1 million years.

Robert Chancia at Idaho University, USA, and colleagues predict that Uranus's two moons, Cressida and Desdemona, will collide in the future. The reason is because the moon Cressida created too much gravitational pull on the belt of Uranus , according to the International Business Times. The results of the study are published in the online library of Cornell University, USA, on August 24.

Two moons Cressida and Desdemona of Uranus may collide with each other for 1 million years.(Photo: NASA).

Scientists conducted research on the mass and orbit of Cressida. The results showed that Cressida had a mass of about 1 / 300,000 Moon. He is on his way to collide with Desdemona, currently moving in orbit only 900km from Cressida. Cressida's gravity gradually pulls them closer together and causes them to collide with each other for 1 million years.

Moon Cressida has a width of about 82km, while Desdemona is even smaller. Two moons were discovered in 1986, when the Voyager 2 spacecraft of the US Space Agency (NASA) approached Uranus. Currently, astronomers have discovered that all 27 moons orbit around the planet, most of them contain ice and water.

The team says Cressida and Desdemona are not the only moons that will crash into each other. The other two moons of Uranus are Cupid and Belinda will also experience a major collision in the next 1,000 to 10 million years.

Scientists believe that Uranus's moon collision occurred before. Countless fragments flew in orbit around the planet to form a fuzzy belt that was the product of these collisions.

Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, was discovered by astronomer William Herschel. Uranus is named after the sky god of the ancient Greeks Uranus. This is the only planet named after a god in Greek mythology instead of Roman mythology.