For researchers at the University of Idaho, spotting a moon 6 miles wide orbiting Uranus, a staggering 1.8 billion miles from Earth, may actually be easier than finding a white cat in a snowstorm.

A team of eight scientists from various institutions, including UI professor Matthew Hedman, harnessed the observational power of the James Webb Space Telescope to find Uranus’ 29th known natural satellite, or what’s known more colloquially as a moon.

“JWST looks in the infrared, which is longer wavelengths then our eyes can see,” Hedman said. “If you look at the visible, like Hubble does or even Voyager, the planet is extremely bright, which makes it even harder to see faint moons.”

Using the Webb telescope’s near-infrared camera, scientists led by the Southwest Research Institute captured 10

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