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Encyclopedia > Uranus' natural satellites

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. Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 120 kPa Hydrogen 83% Helium 15% Methane 1. ... Moons of solar system scaled to Earths Moon The common noun moon (not capitalized) is used to mean any natural satellite of the other planets. ... Atmospheric pressure   Titania (ti-taan-ya) is the largest moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Oberon (oe-bur-on) is the outermost of the major moons of the planet Uranus. ... Sir Wilhelm Friedrich Herschel, FRS (Hanover, November 15, 1738 – August 25, 1822 Slough, then in Buckinghamshire now in Berkshire) was a German-born British astronomer and composer who became famous for discovering the planet Uranus, and made many other astronomical discoveries. ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Ariel (air-ee-ul) is a moon of Uranus discovered on 1851-10-24 by William Lassell. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Umbriel (um-bree-ul) is a moon of Uranus discovered on 1851-10-24 by William Lassell. ... William Lassell (June 18, 1799 – October 5, 1880) was a British astronomer, born in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. ... 1851 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... John Herschel Sir John Frederick William Herschel (7 March 1792 – 11 May 1871) was an English mathematician and astronomer. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Gerard Kuiper, circa 1963. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Miranda (mi-ran-da) is the smallest and innermost of Uranus major moons. ...


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. The Voyager 2 spacecraft was launched in 1977. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Perdita (pur-di-ta, IPA ) is a moon of Uranus. ...


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. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Alexander Pope, an English poet best known for his Essay on Criticism and Rape of the Lock Pope, circa 1727. ...

Major moons of Uranus compared, at their proper relative sizes.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1726x527, 71 KB) Summary A montage of Voyager 2 photos of the Uranian family of moons. ...

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. Gravitational collapse in astronomy is the sudden inward fall of a massive body under the influence of the force of gravity. ... A spheroid is a quadric surface in three dimensions obtained by rotating an ellipse about one of its principal axes. ...

Notes: * Awaiting confirmation and naming; ** Negative orbital periods indicate a retrograde orbit around Uranus (opposite to the planet's rotation).
Name (spheroidal moons in bold)

(Pronunciation key) This article is about retrograde motion. ... English Pronunciation Key for Astronomical Bodies This spelling pronunciation system is used on the planetoids and moons of the solar system pages. ...

Mean diameter (km) Mass (kg) Mean orbital
radius (km)		 Orbital period (day) Discovery date
Uranus VI Cordelia kor-dee'-lee-ə 40 ± 6 4.5 × 1016 ? 49,770 0.335034 1986
Uranus VII Ophelia oe-fee'-lee-ə 43 ± 8 5.4 × 1016 ? 53,790 0.376400 1986
Uranus VIII Bianca bee-aang'-kə 51 ± 4 9.3 × 1016 ? 59,170 0.434579 1986
Uranus IX Cressida kres'-ə-də 80 ± 4 3.43 × 1017 ? 61,780 0.463570 1986
Uranus X Desdemona dez'-də-moe'-nə 64 ± 8 1.78 × 1017 ? 62,680 0.473650 1986
Uranus XI Juliet jew'-lee-et' 94 ± 8 5.57 × 1017 ? 64,350 0.493065 1986
Uranus XII Portia por'-shə 135 ± 8 1.68 × 1018 ? 66,090 0.513196 1986
Uranus XIII Rosalind roz'-ə-lind 72 ± 12 2.54 × 1017 ? 69,940 0.558460 1986
Uranus XXVII Cupid kew'-pid ~ 12 Unknown 74,800 0.618 2003
Uranus XIV Belinda be-lin'-də 81 ± 16 3.57 × 1017 ? 75,260 0.623527 1986
Uranus XXV Perdita pər'-di-tə ~ 20 Unknown 76,420 0.638 1986
Uranus XV Puck puk' 162 ± 4 2.89 × 1018 ? 86,010 0.761833 1986
Uranus XXVI Mab mab' ~ 16 Unknown 97,734 0.923 2003
Uranus V Miranda mə-ran'-də 471.6 ± 1.4 (6.6 ± 0.7) × 1019 129,390 1.413479 1948
Uranus I Ariel arr'-ee-əl 1157.8 ± 1.2 (1.35 ± 0.12) × 1021 191,020 2.520379 1851
Uranus II Umbriel um'-bree-əl 1169.4 ± 5.6 (1.17 ± 0.13) × 1021 266,300 4.144177 1851
Uranus III Titania ti-taan'-yə 1577.8 ± 3.6 (3.53 ± 0.09) × 1021 435,910 8.705872 1787
Uranus IV Oberon oe'-bər-on 1522.8 ± 5.2 (3.01 ± 0.07) × 1021 583,520 13.463239 1787
Uranus XXII Francisco fran-sis'-koe ~ 12 1.3 × 1015 ? 4,276,000 -266.6** 2001
Uranus XVI Caliban kal'-ə-ban ~ 98 7.3 × 1017 ? 7,231,000 -579.7** 1997
Uranus XX Stephano stef'-ə-noe ~ 20 6 × 1015 ? 8,004,000 -677.4** 1999
Uranus XXI Trinculo tring'-kew-loe ~ 10 7 × 1014 ? 8,504,000 -759.0** 2001
Uranus XVII Sycorax sik'-or-aks ~ 190 5.4 × 1018 ? 12,179,000 -1288.3** 1997
Uranus XXIII Margaret mar'-grit ~ 11 1.3 × 1015 ? 14,345,000 1694.8 2003
Uranus XVIII Prospero pros'-pər-oe ~ 30 2.1 × 1016 ? 16,256,000 -1977.3** 1999
Uranus XIX Setebos set'-ə-bus ~ 30 2.1 × 1016 ? 17,418,000 -2234.8** 1999
Uranus XXIV Ferdinand fər'-də-nand ~ 12 Unknown 20,901,000 -2823.4** 2001
Schematic of the Uranian satellite and ring system
Enlarge
Schematic of the Uranian satellite and ring system

Sources: NASA/NSSDC and University of Hawaii. These sources give no information on the masses for the small satellites; some data have changed greatly so it is unlikely that these old values are correct. Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Cordelia (kor-dee-lee-a) is the innermost moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Ophelia (o-fee-lee-a) is a moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Bianca (bee-aang-ka) is a moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Cressida (kres-i-da) is a moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Desdemona (dez-di-moe-na) is a moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Juliet (jew-lee-et ) is a moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Portia (por-sha) is a moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Rosalind (roz-a-lind) is a moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Cupid (kew-pid) is a natural satellite of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Belinda (be-lin-da) is a moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Perdita (pur-di-ta, IPA ) is a moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Puck (puk) is a moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Mab (mab, IPA [mæb]) is a natural satellite of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Miranda (mi-ran-da) is the smallest and innermost of Uranus major moons. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Ariel (air-ee-ul) is a moon of Uranus discovered on 1851-10-24 by William Lassell. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Umbriel (um-bree-ul) is a moon of Uranus discovered on 1851-10-24 by William Lassell. ... Atmospheric pressure   Titania (ti-taan-ya) is the largest moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Oberon (oe-bur-on) is the outermost of the major moons of the planet Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Francisco (fran-sis-koe, IPA ) is a natural satellite of Uranus. ... Atmosphere none Caliban (kal-i-ban or kal-a-bun) is a moon of Uranus, named after the monster character in William Shakespeares play The Tempest. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Stephano (stef-a-noe or ste-faa-noe) is a natural satellite of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Trinculo (tring-kew-loe) is a natural satellite of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Sycorax (sik-or-aks) is a moon of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Margaret (mar-grit)is a natural satellite of Uranus. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Prospero (pros-pur-oe) is a relatively small natural satellite of the planet Uranus named after the sorcerer in William Shakespeares play The Tempest. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Setebos (set-e-bus) is Uranus outermost named moon, surpassed only by S/2001 U 2. ... Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa Ferdinand (fur-di-nand, IPA ) is a natural satellite of Uranus. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2100x2553, 2202 KB) Summary Schematic of the Uranian satellite and ring systems. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2100x2553, 2202 KB) Summary Schematic of the Uranian satellite and ring systems. ...


Naming notes

Some asteroids share the same names as moons of Uranus: 171 Ophelia, 218 Bianca, 593 Titania, 666 Desdemona and 2758 Cordelia. An asteroid is a small, solid object in our Solar System, orbiting the Sun. ... 171 Ophelia is a main belt asteroid and a member of the Themis family of asteroids. ... 218 Bianca is a sizeable Main belt asteroid. ... 593 Titania 593 Titania is a minor planet orbiting Sun. ... 666 Desdemona 666 Desdemona is a minor planet orbiting Sun. ...


See also

Uranus' natural satellitesedit
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
The Solar System
Sun - Mercury - Venus - Earth (Moon) - Mars - Asteroid belt - Jupiter
Saturn - Uranus - Neptune - Pluto - Kuiper belt - Scattered disc - Oort cloud
See also astronomical objects and the solar system's list of objects, sorted by radius or mass.

  Results from FactBites:
 
Wikinfo | Uranus (planet) (793 words)
Uranus is composed primarily of rock and various ices, with only about 15% hydrogen and a little helium (in contrast to Jupiter and Saturn which are mostly hydrogen).
Uranus' cyan color is due to the adsorption of red light by atmospheric methane.
Uranus' magnetic field is odd in that it is not centered on the center of the planet and is tilted almost 60° with respect to the axis of rotation.
MSN Encarta - Natural Satellite (389 words)
The motion of most of the solar system's natural satellites about their planets is direct: west to east, in the same direction as the rotation of their planets.
Several small satellites of the large outer planets, however, revolve in the retrograde direction: east to west, opposite the direction of the rotation of their planets.
These retrograde satellites tend to orbit far from their primaries and were probably captured by the planets' gravitational fields some time after the formation of the solar system.
  More results at FactBites »

 

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