Caliban (moon)

+ Caliban Discovery Discovered by Brett J. Gladman,Philip D. Nicholson,Joseph A. Burns,and John J. Kavelaars Discovered in September 6, 1997 Orbital characteristics Semi-major axis 7,231,000 km orbital eccentricity 0.1588 Orbital period 579.73 d Inclination 120.28° (to Uranus' equator)140.878° (to the local Laplace plane)139.89° (to the ecliptic) Is a moon of Uranus Physical characteristics Mean diameter ~72 km (estimate)Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, and Jan Kleyna
An Ultradeep Survey for Irregular Satellites of Uranus: Limits to Completeness, The Astronomical Journal, 129 (2005), pages 518–525 . Preprint Surface area ~16,000 km2 (estimate) Volume ~200,000 km3 (estimate) Mass ~7.4 kg (estimate) Mean density ~1.5 g/cm3 (estimate) Surface gravity ~0.02 m/s2 (estimate) Escape velocity ~0.045 km/s (estimate) Rotation period 2.7hM. Maris, G. Carraro, G. Cremonese, M. Fulle 
Multicolor Photometry of the Uranus Irregular Satellites Sycorax and Caliban, The Astronomical Journal, 121 (May 2001), pp. 2800-2803,  Axial tilt unknown Albedo 0.04 (assumed) Surface temp. min  mean  max  ~64 K (estimate)  Atmosphere none
Caliban is the second biggest retrograde non-spherical moon of Uranus.

Caliban was found on 1997-09-06 by Brett J. Gladman, Philip D. Nicholson, Joseph A. Burns, and John J. Kavelaars using the 200-inch Hale telescope together with Sycorax and given the designation S/1997 U 1.GLADMAN, NICHOLSON, BURNS, KAVELAARS, MARSDEN, WILLIAMS & OFFUTT
Discovery of two distant irregular moons of Uranus, Nature, 392 (1998), pp. 897 - 899

Designated Uranus XVI it was named after the monster fictional character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

The orbital parameters suggest that it may belong, together with Stephano to the same dynamic cluster, suggesting common origin.Grav, Tommy; Holman, Matthew J.; Gladman, Brett J.; Aksnes, Kaare
Photometric survey of the irregular satellites,Icarus, 166 (2003), pp. 33-45. Preprint

The diameter is estimated at 72 km (assuming albedo of 0.04), making it the second biggest non-spherical moon of Uranus, half the size of Sycorax, the biggest non-spherical moon of Uranus.

The light curve suggests Caliban's rotation period is 2.7 hours.

Related pages
List of Uranus' moons

References

Ephemeris IAU-NSES
Mean orbital parameters NASA JPL

Other websites
Caliban Profile  by NASA's Solar System Exploration
David Jewiit pages
Scott Sheppard pages

Category:Uranus' moons