Ariel

Ariel is the fourth-largest of the 27 known moons of Uranus. Ariel orbits and rotates in the equatorial plane of Uranus, which is almost perpendicular to the orbit of Uranus and so has an extreme seasonal cycle.
It was discovered in October 1851 by William Lassell and named for a character in two different pieces of literature. As of 2019, much of the detailed knowledge of Ariel derives from a single flyby of Uranus performed by the space probe Voyager 2 in 1986, which managed to image around 35% of the moon's surface. There are no active plans at present to return to study the moon in more detail, although various concepts such as a Uranus Orbiter and Probe have been proposed.
Category:Moons
Category:Uranian Moons
Category:Major Moon of Uranus
Category:Objects with Transient Atmospheres
Category:Objects In Hydrostatic Equilibrium
Category:Outer Solar System Object
Category:Named Objects
Category:Named Moons
Category:Numbered Objects
Category:Numbered Moons
Category:Objects Visited by Spacecraft