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arXiv · 2609.31923

JWST Reveals the Kuiper Belt-like Compositions of the Uranian Rings and Small Moons

Matthew Belyakov·M. Ryleigh Davis·Zachariah Milby·Ian Wong·Michael E. Brown
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Abstract

We present the JWST NIRSpec 1--5 micron spectra of the Uranian rings and four ringmoons: Puck, Perdita, Portia, and Juliet. We find that the compositions of the rings and moons strongly resemble water-type Kuiper belt objects, showing deep 3.0 micron O--H and water ice features as well as the CO$_2$ band at 4.27 micron. The volatiles show a radial trend of decreasing volatile abundance at closer radial distance to the planet, consistent with recent estimates of the densities of the innermost moons. Given the observed compositional signatures, we suggest two ways to reconcile the history of the small inner moons with that of the regular ones. The first is that the Uranus-tilting collision produced a disk from an impactor formed out of material similar to that which comprises water-rich Kuiper belt objects, and the ringmoons are small undifferentiated remnants of that process. Alternatively, the rings and ringmoons postdate the formation of the regular moons, and formed from the later tidal disruption of a several hundred kilometer sized undifferentiated water-type Kuiper belt object.

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Matthew Belyakov, M. Ryleigh Davis, Zachariah Milby, Ian Wong, Michael E. Brown. 2026-09-25. JWST Reveals the Kuiper Belt-like Compositions of the Uranian Rings and Small Moons. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.31923

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