Uranus' natural satellites
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Uranus has 27 known moons. The first two moons (Titania and Oberon) were discovered by William Herschel on March 13, 1787. Two more moons (Ariel and Umbriel) were discovered by William Lassell in 1851. In 1852, Herschel's son John Herschel gave the four then-known moons their names. In 1948 Gerard Kuiper discovered the moon Miranda.
The flyby of the Voyager 2 space probe in January 1986 led to the discovery of a further 10 moons, and another satellite Perdita was later found after studying old Voyager photographs. Eleven additional moons have since been identified using telescopes.
Unlike most planetary moons, which are named from antiquity, all the moons of Uranus are named after characters from the works of Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.
The natural satellites
The Uranian moons are listed here by orbital period, from shortest to longest. Moons massive enough for their surfaces to have collapsed into a spheroid are highlighted in light purple. Irregular (captured) moons are shown in light grey.
| Name (spheroidal moons in bold) () | Mean diameter (km) | Mass (kg) | Semi-major axis (km) | Orbital period (day) | Discovery date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uranus VI | Cordelia | kor-dee'-lee-ə | 40 ± 6 | 49,770 | 0.335034 | 1986 | |
| Uranus VII | Ophelia | oe-fee'-lee-ə | 43 ± 8 | 53,790 | 0.376400 | 1986 | |
| Uranus VIII | Bianca | bee-aang'-kə | 51 ± 4 | 59,170 | 0.434579 | 1986 | |
| Uranus IX | Cressida | kres'-ə-də | 80 ± 4 | 61,780 | 0.463570 | 1986 | |
| Uranus X | Desdemona | dez'-də-moe'-nə | 64 ± 8 | 62,680 | 0.473650 | 1986 | |
| Uranus XI | Juliet | jew'-lee-et' | 94 ± 8 | 64,350 | 0.493065 | 1986 | |
| Uranus XII | Portia | por'-shə | 135 ± 8 | 66,090 | 0.513196 | 1986 | |
| Uranus XIII | Rosalind | roz'-ə-lind | 72 ± 12 | 69,940 | 0.558460 | 1986 | |
| Uranus XXVII | Cupid | kew'-pid | ~ 17.8 | 74,800 | 0.618 | 2003 | |
| Uranus XIV | Belinda | be-lin'-də | 81 ± 16 | 75,260 | 0.623527 | 1986 | |
| Uranus XXV | Perdita | pər'-di-tə | ~ 26.6 | 76,420 | 0.638 | 1986 | |
| Uranus XV | Puck | puk' | 162 ± 4 | 86,010 | 0.761833 | 1985 | |
| Uranus XXVI | Mab | mab' | ~ 24.8 | 97,734 | 0.923 | 2003 | |
| Uranus V | Miranda | mə-ran'-də | 471.6 ± 1.4 | 129,390 | 1.413479 | 1948 | |
| Uranus I | Ariel | arr'-ee-əl | 1157.8 ± 1.2 | 191,020 | 2.520379 | 1851 | |
| Uranus II | Umbriel | um'-bree-əl | 1169.4 ± 5.6 | 266,300 | 4.144177 | 1851 | |
| Uranus III | Titania | ti-taan'-yə | 1577.8 ± 3.6 | 435,910 | 8.705872 | 1787 | |
| Uranus IV | Oberon | oe'-bər-on | 1522.8 ± 5.2 | 583,520 | 13.463239 | 1787 | |
| Uranus XXII | Francisco | fran-sis'-koe | ~ 12 | 4,276,000 | -266.6** | 2001 | |
| Uranus XVI | Caliban | kal'-ə-ban | ~ 98 | 7,231,000 | -579.7** | 1997 | |
| Uranus XX | Stephano | stef'-ə-noe | ~ 20 | 8,004,000 | -677.4** | 1999 | |
| Uranus XXI | Trinculo | tring'-kew-loe | ~ 10 | 8,504,000 | -759.0** | 2001 | |
| Uranus XVII | Sycorax | sik'-or-aks | ~ 190 | 12,179,000 | -1288.3** | 1997 | |
| Uranus XXIII | Margaret | mar'-grit | ~ 11 | 14,345,000 | 1694.8 | 2003 | |
| Uranus XVIII | Prospero | pros'-pər-oe | ~ 30 | 16,256,000 | -1977.3** | 1999 | |
| Uranus XIX | Setebos | set'-ə-bus | ~ 30 | 17,418,000 | -2234.8** | 1999 | |
| Uranus XXIV | Ferdinand | fər'-də-nand | ~ 12 | 20,901,000 | -2823.4** | 2001 | |
Sources: [NASA/NSSDC] and [University of Hawaii]. These sources give no information on the masses for the small satellites.
Naming notes
Some asteroids share the same names as moons of Uranus: 171 Ophelia, 218 Bianca, 593 Titania, 666 Desdemona, 763 Cupido and 2758 Cordelia.See also
- Jupiter's natural satellites
- Saturn's natural satellites
- Neptune's natural satellites
- Pluto's natural satellites
- Timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites
- Naming of natural satellites
External link
- [NASA's Hubble Discovers New Rings and Moons Around Uranus] (STScI-2005-33, December 22, 2005)
Uranus (satellites) [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit] |
|---|
| Cordelia | Ophelia | Bianca | Cressida | Desdemona | Juliet | Portia | Rosalind | Cupid |
| Belinda | Perdita | Puck | Mab | Miranda | Ariel | Umbriel | Titania | Oberon | Francisco |
| Caliban | Stephano | Trinculo | Sycorax | Margaret | Prospero | Setebos | Ferdinand |
| See also: | Rings of Uranus |
| [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit ] The Solar System |
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| Planets: Mercury (planet)>Mercury - Venus - Earth - Mars - Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus - Neptune - Pluto |
| Other: Sun - Moon>The Moon - Asteroid belt - Main-belt comets - Kuiper belt - Scattered disc - Oort cloud |
| See also astronomical objects and the solar system's list of objects, sorted by radius or mass. |
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