The Mysterious Moons of Uranus | Astronotes The Mysterious Moons of Uranus admin – July 31, 2013 Posted in: Planets With only two planets in our solar system without moons (Mercury and Venus) our curiosity is a little spoilt for choice. Normally when people begin to search about for information on planets with the most interesting moons dominant planets like Jupiter and Saturn tend to win people’s attention while others fall to the side-lines, destined to go unloved and unnoticed. But even the less noticed have a lot to offer so let’s uncover the mysteries of the rather small moons of the Georgian Planet Uranus. William Herschel: It’s a law of astronomy communication that this picture must be used in any article about things Uranian. (Image credit :via Wikimedia.org) Uranus itself is a very interesting planet so of course it should have some interesting moons. It actually has the third most moons in the solar system with 27 known natural satellites orbiting around the planet. Now these moons are actually quite small with Uranus’s largest moon Titania having half the diameter of our own moon!

Uranus’s moons are also quite light, in fact if you were where to add up the mass of all Uranus’s moons it would account for less than half of the mass of Neptune’s largest moon Triton. But these moons are anything but boring! Uranus has five quite big moons that where obviously the first moons of the planet to be discovered due to their size. Oberon and Titania are the largest of the five and were found by the planet’s discoverer William Herschel in 1787. Then the moon-hunting astronomer William Lassel (1799-1880) who discovered the first moon of Neptune…just 17 days after Neptune was discovered! He discovered Ariel and Umbriel in 1851. It wasn’t until a century later when the final of the five major moons, Miranda was discovered by Gerard Kuiper. The rest of Uranus’s moons were not to be discovered until the Voyager 2’s 1986 fly by and by the Hubble Space Telescope and more advanced ground telescopes.

None of the moons have been found to have any form of atmosphere most likely due to their size and lack of ability to have a large enough gravitational force to have one so I don’t think there will be any future plans to set up homes on these chilly worlds. Uranus and Ariel seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. (Image credit:NASA-Space Telescope Science Institute) The rest of the moons of Uranus are a lot smaller with many astronomers believing that they are actually captured asteroids and in comparison to some of the other systems of satellites orbiting around the other planets even Uranus’s major moons aren’t exactly big but they still have their peculiarities. In their naming for example, they already differ from other moons, thanks to William Herschel. When Herschel first discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 he originally wanted to name the planet Georgium Sidus (George’s star) or the Georgian Planet after King George III as a tribute to the king but unanimous disapproval across world astronomers meant that Uranus was more suitable in sticking with the tradition of naming planets after gods from Roman and Greek mythology (except for Earth of course).

But the Herschel family got a mini celestial coup when William’s son Sir John originated a pattern of naming the Uranian moons after characters from the works of Shakespeare and Alexander Pope (see Comments for more on this). We all have our faults, but Titania has more than most. (Image credit: NASA) So as I have stated most of Uranus’s moons are quite tiny and we lack information on many of them but we can look at a few of its most interesting moons, especially the five major moons. Let’s begin with Uranus’s largest two moons, the husband and wife of Uranus’s lunar system, Titania and Oberon. Titania is the largest of the moon of Uranus and is named after the Queen of the Fairies in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer-night’s Dream. Like all of Uranus’s moons it is made of half water ice and half rocky material with some astronomers referring to these types of moons as “dirty ice balls”. The surface of Titania is covered in craters, rift valleys and faults. There are few quite large craters with the rest being quite small but what’s interesting is that many of the craters are half submerged indicating that the surface of Titania is quite young.

The craters also have brightly covered ejecta material kicked up from the surface from impact just like other craters. It has a few rift valleys which can be caused by plates moving below the surface. It has one rift valley that stretches across 1000 miles (1600km). Also the existence of faults suggests that the moon of Titania was geologically active in the past as faults are fractures that can be found on planets and moons that allow movement along the surface. It is believed Titania’s surface cooled before its interior which created these many faults and rifts in the surface. Oberon, spot the the four mile high mountain! (Image credit: NASA) The second largest moon Oberon is named after Titania’s husband from A Midsummer-night’s Dream and so is the King of the Fairies. Like Titania, Oberon has many faults and rifts that suggest some form of geological activity in the past but it has a few more mysterious features. It has many more larger craters than its ‘spouse’ and there is a mysterious substance that lies on the floor of them with some theories suggesting it to be dirty water that has upwelled from beneath the surface on impact.

Like Titania, it is also half rock and half ice but it has a mountain that reaches four miles about its surface in the southern hemisphere but the fact it is so heavily cratered and there is a lack of other surface features indicates that Oberon may have been a little more stable than his tempestuous wife. Umbriel (Image credit: NASA) Nest we have the dark ‘dusky sprite’ Umbriel, the third largest moon, named after the melancholy sprite from Alexander Pope’s epic poem, The Rape of the Lock. Like the other moons of Uranus it is a dirty ice ball but it is strangely very dark, Umbriel only reflects about half the light of Uranus’s brightest moon, Ariel and astronomers are not fully sure what causes this. Like Oberon it doesn’t have many features which indicate that it has been relatively stable since the moon’s formation. That is not say it doesn’t not have the accessory that accompanies most moons. Umbriel does have craters and a few which stands out from it’s dark surface. Some of Umbriel’s craters are much brighter than the areas around them including a crater near the top of the moon nicknamed the ‘Fluorescent Cheerio’.

Round in shape and extremely bright, this is believed to be the floor of crater which may have been exposed material from deeper under the moon’s surface which has been revealed after impact. Ariel (Image credit: NASA) The fourth largest moon is also the brightest, Ariel named after the mischievous sprite from Shakespeare’s, The Tempest. Ariel is one of the two major moons that may not have had a calm and peaceful past due to the many interconnecting and deep rift valleys that cross it’s surface. Some stretch across hundreds of miles and can reach depths of 6 miles! These rifts also have ridges which are believed to have been created by ice upwelling from the interior of the moon. These deep rift valleys are very smooth on the floor which would lead us to believe some form of liquid eroded them but this could definitely not be water as water has the toughness of steel in these cold temperatures. The liquid was more likely to be liquid ammonia, methane or carbon monoxide, definitely nothing we would wish to take a swim in! Miranda (Image credit: NASA) Last but definitely not least of the five major moons is the jigsaw moon of Miranda.

This moon is the fifth largest moon and is the innermost located natural satellite of the five major moons. It is named after the daughter of Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Miranda can boast uniqueness compared to other moons in the solar system, unlike any other moon its surface is like an assorted, jumbled up jigsaw, as if someone has glued pieces of a moon together in the wrong order. Like the other moons of Uranus it is made of half water ice and rocky material. It was half believed to lack much activity before its wonders were revealed by Voyager 2. It’s surface is a mixture of massive faults and strange rifts. It has extremely deep canyons measuring nearly 12 miles deep which is massive for a moon that is only 290 miles wide! It’s most stunning feature is what is known as the ‘chevron’, light and dark groves that join to form a ‘V’ shape that dominates the moon’s surface. The faults have also lead to the formation of massive cliffs which include one that is 3 miles high which is three times taller than the Earth’s Grand Canyon is deep.

Originally astronomers believed Miranda was shattered multiple times and reformed but others have more recent theories that upwellings of partially melted ice are the root cause of Miranda’s violent past. The strange terrain of Miranda (Image credit: NASA) The five major moons of Uranus are dainty but very interesting with some of the most baffling occurrences and features but some of its smaller moons can shine on stage too. Uranus has multiple shepherd moons that help maintain its dark system of rings. Shepherd moons are just ordinary moons that are literally in the right place at the right time. They can orbit on the inner and outer areas of a planet’s ring system and help define it by hovering up any dust and debris that tries to escape. Depending on the location if it’s in the inner or outer area of the ring it will help speed up or slow down particles to aid the retention of the ring. Two of the most well-known shepherd moons in the solar system are Uranus’s moons Cordelia and Ophelia. Cordelia was named after the daughter of Lear in Shakespeare’s King Lear and is only 9 miles wide but it is fast moving and is on the inside of Uranus’s brightest ring.

Its pace causes the particles to speed up and thus ‘shepherds’ the particles into a higher orbit. Outside the brightest ring’s orbit we have Ophelia, named after Polonius’s daughter in Shakespeare’s, Hamlet. Ophelia does the opposite of Cordelia with its slow pace causing the particles to slow down and into a lower orbit. This team effort causes Cordelia and Ophelia to create a well-defined, narrow and bright ring around Uranus. The moons of Uranus are often neglected in studies but despite their lacking in size them definitely makeup for in appearance and purpose. The moons of Uranus have helped us realise that some moons help create the beautiful features of planets. The moons of Uranus still have many features that are unexplainable without future research and many still have very little known about them. There is also a possibility that there are still many more that have gone undetected. Only future observation will perhaps aid the uncovering of the mysteries of the moons of Uranus.

(Article by Kerry Scullion, Education Support Officer) Shakespeare's Moons, the moons of Uranus - Bob the Alien's Tour of the Solar System Welcome to Uranus The Tilted Planet Discovery of Uranus Shakespeare's Moons Miranda, a moon of Uranus Facts about Uranus Thousands of years ago, when the Romans and Greeks were naming the planets that were visible to them, they decided to name them after their gods. Mercury (Greek: Hermes) was the Roman god of commerce, travel and industry, Venus (Greek: Aphrodite) was the goddess of love and beauty, Mars (Greek: Ares) was the god of war, Jupiter (Greek: Zeus) was the king of the gods, and Saturn (Greek: Cronos) was the god of agriculture. Hundreds of years later, even when people knew that the planets weren't actually gods, they still kept with tradition and named newly discovered planets after mythological characters. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were all discovered in modern times, but their names are all still linked to ancient myths.

Uranus is the Greek ruler of the heavens, Neptune (Greek: Poseidon) is the Roman god of the sea, and Pluto (Greek: Hades) is god of the underworld. The names of moons orbiting planets are also influenced by mythology. This is all except for one planet. The moons orbiting Uranus are named after characters in plays, mostly after characters in plays written by William Shakespeare. Why would you name moons after characters in a play though? Before I answer that, here's my quick guide to Shakespeare. One of the greatest ever writers of the English language was William Shakespeare. He was born on 23rd April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England and during his life, wrote about 154 poems (called sonnets) and 38 plays. From 1588, he lived in London where many of his plays were performed in front of the courts of the Royal Family. Although his plays are now over 400 years old, they are still performed and studied today, containing themes and ideas which are as relevant now as they were when they were first written.

The Globe Theatre in London was opened in 2000 and is a modern day replica of the type of theatre in which Shakespeare's plays would have originally been performed. Some of Shakespeare's most famous plays are Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare died on 23rd April 1616 and is buried in Stratford-upon-Avon church. Although Shakespeare wrote a large number of plays, these plays can be placed into four categories: Comedies, Histories, Tragedies and Romances. The Comedies were often farcical comedies of error, kind of like Fawlty Towers for the 16th Century (e.g. A Midsummer Night's Dream) . The Histories were based on real historical events, usually about English history (Henry IV, Part 1) or ancient history. Tragedies were plays with darker themes (such as betrayal and jealousy) and by the end of the play, most of the characters had died! (Romeo and Juliet, King Lear). The Romances were a bit lighter in theme and featured elements of fantasy and magic (A Winter's Tale, The Tempest).

William Shakespeare is a hugely influential figure in English literature today. Students still analyse and discuss his works, and tourists from all over the world visit Stratford-upon-Avon to visit Shakespeare's house (pictured right). His importance inspired William Herschel in 1787 to name some of the moons known to be orbiting Uranus after characters in Shakespeare's plays. In 1781, Uranus became the first planet to be " discovered ". The other planets that were known of at the time ( Mercury , Venus , Mars , Jupiter and Saturn ) plus the Sun and the Moon had been observed for tens of thousands of years from Earth and already had names, named by the Greeks and Romans after their gods. Before 1781, nobody knew that Uranus existed and people thought there were only six planets in the Solar System. Although Uranus had already been spotted numerous times, it was English astronomer William Herschel who first recognised that Uranus was actually a planet and not a star . Because the planet was discovered by an English astronomer , not an ancient Roman or Greek, it was very nearly named Georgian Sidus ("George's Star"), in honour of England's ruler at the time, King George the Third.

Unsurprisingly, the scientific community didn't really like this name, wanting the new planet to keep the tradition of being named after Roman or Greek gods. So the seventh planet in the Solar System became known as Uranus, a name suggested by German astronomer Johann Elert Bode. In 1787, a few years after discovering Uranus, William Herschel discovered two large moons orbiting the planet. Wanting to honour his British background once more, Herschel decided this time to honour the greatest playwright in English history by naming the two moons after characters in one of his plays. The moons were named Titania and Oberon after the King and Queen of the Fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Again, some people (such as the German ambassador) kicked up a fuss, wanting the moons to be named after classical figures, but the names chosen by Herschel remained and the tradition of naming moons of Uranus after literary characters began. In 1851, William Lassell discovered two more large moons orbiting Uranus. These were named Ariel and Umbriel.

Ariel and Umbriel are characters in Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock, names chosen by Willian Herschel's son, John. These are the only two moons orbiting Uranus named after characters in non-Shakespearean plays, although one of the main characters in The Tempest by Shakespeare is also named Ariel. The next moon to be discovered was in 1948 by American astronomer Gerard Kuiper. This moon was named Miranda, another character from The Tempest. It wasn't until Voyager visited Uranus in 1986 that any more moons were discovered. All of these moons, and all moons discovered since then have been named after characters in Shakespeare's plays. Even moons yet to be discovered will be named after Shakespeare's characters. He may have knew his plays were pretty good back when he was writing them, but even Shakespeare wouldn't have imagined that his characters would one day become immortalised in worlds millions and millions of miles away from his home in Stratford! Here is a list of all of the moons of Uranus, their size and location, the date they were discovered and where their names originate. Name How Many Moons Does Uranus Have?

- Technology Org Technology Org How Many Moons Does Uranus Have? Posted June 22, 2015 Have you ever wondered how many moons Uranus has? Like all of the giant planets, it’s got rather a lot! In fact, astronomers can now account for 27 moons that are described as “Uranian”. And, much like Jupiter and Saturn, the process of discovering these moons has been long and involved on multiple astronomers. Uranus and its system of Moons. Credit: NASA/Hubble Discovery and Naming: The process of discovery began in the 18th century with astronomer William Herschel . On January 11th, 1878, he observed the moons of Oberon and Titania, six years after discovering Uranus itself. At the time, Herschel claimed to have observed up to six satellites, as well as a ring (these were later discredited). For fifty years, Herschel’s instrument was the only one with which the moons had been seen.

However, by the 1840s, more advanced instruments and a more favorable position of Uranus led to Oberon and Titania being viewed again, as well as the detection of two additional moons. These moons, Ariel and Umbriel, were detected by William Lassell in 1851. Along with Oberon and Titania, Lassell numbered the moons I through IV from Uranus outward. In 1852, Herschel’s son John Herschel gave the four moons their current names, using characters from Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock, and William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ariel and Umbriel were named for Pope’s characters, while Titania and Oberon were named for the queen and king of the fairies in Dream. Images of Uranus taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: Hubble In 1948, Gerard Kuiper discovered the smallest and the last of the five large, spherical moons. Consistent with the names applied by John Herschel, the planet was named Miranda after another one of Pope’s characters.

Decades later, the flyby of the Voyager 2 space probe in January 1986 led to the discovery of ten further inner moons. Another satellite, Perdita, was retroactively discovered in 1999 after studying old Voyager photographs. Since 1997, nine distant irregular moons have been identified using ground-based telescopes. Two more small inner moons, Cupid and Mab, were discovered using the Hubble Space Telescope in 2003. As of 2012, the moon Margaret was the last Uranian moon to be discovered. Large Moons: The largest moons of Uranus are – in order of size – Miranda , Ariel , Umbriel , Oberon and Titania . They range in diameter and mass from 472 km and 6.7 × 1019 kg for Miranda to 1578 km and 3.5 × 1021 kg for Titania. Each of these moons is particularly dark, with low bond and geometric albedos. Ariel is the brightest while Umbriel is the darkest.

All of the large moons of Uranus are believed to have formed in the accretion disc, which existed around Uranus for some time after its formation, or resulted from the large impact suffered by Uranus early in its history. A montage of Uranus’s moons. Image credit: NASA Each one is comprised of roughly equal amounts of rock and ice, except for Miranda which is made primarily of ice. The ice component may include ammonia and carbon dioxide, while the rocky material is believed to be composed of carbonaceous material, including organic compounds. Their composition is believed to be differentiated, with an icy mantle surrounding a rocky core. In the case of Titania and Oberon, it is believed that liquid water oceans may exist at the core/mantle boundary. Their surfaces are also heavily cratered; but in each case, endogenic resurfacing has led to a degree of renewal of their surfaces. Ariel appears to have the youngest surface with the fewest impact craters while Umbriel appears to be the the oldest and most cratered. The major moons of Uranus have no discernible atmosphere. Also, because of their orbit around Uranus, they experience extreme seasonal cycles.

Uranus orbits the Sun almost on its side, and the large moons all orbit around Uranus’ equatorial plane, the northern and southern hemispheres experience prolonged periods of daytime and nighttime (42 years at a time). Inner Moons: As of 2008, Uranus is known to possess 13 inner moons who’s orbits lie inside that of Miranda. They are, in order of distance from the planet: Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda, Perdita, Puck and Mab. Consistent with the naming of the Uranus’ larger moons, all are named after characters from Shakespearean plays. Uranus’ five largest moons shown in increasing distance from the planet. Note there is incomplete coverage of Miranda and Ariel. Image credit: NASA/JPL All inner moons are intimately connected to Uranus’ ring system, which probably resulted from the fragmentation of one or several small inner moons.

Puck, at 162 km, is the largest of the inner moons of Uranus – and the only one imaged by Voyager 2 in any detail -while Puck and Mab are the two outermost inner satellites of Uranus. All inner moons are dark objects. They are made of water ice contaminated with a dark material, which is probably organic materials processed by Uranus’ radiation. The system is also chaotic and apparently unstable. Computer simulations estimate that collisions may occur, particularly between Desdemona and Cressida or Juliet within the next 100 million years. Irregular Moons: As of 2005, Uranus is also known to have nine irregular moons, which orbit it at a distance much greater than that of Oberon. All the irregular moons are probably captured objects that were trapped by Uranus soon after its formation. They are, in order of distance from Uranus: Francisco, Caliban, Stephano, Trincutio, Sycorax, Margaret, Prospero, Setebos, and Ferdinard (once again, named for characters in Shakespearean plays).

Uranus’s irregular moons range in size from about 150 km (Sycorax) to 18 km (Trinculo). With the exception of Margaret, all circle Uranus in retrograde orbits (meaning they orbit the planet in the opposite direction of its spin). Much like the Inner Moons, Uranus’ Irregulars are subject to chaotic instability. It is believed that some may collide with Inner Moons and even be ejected in the next 10 million to one billion years. Most of what is known about Uranus’ moons is owed to the Voyager 2 space probe, which remains the only spacecraft to have photographed the Uranian satellites up close. Nevertheless, what has been observed has been enough to keep astronomers and planetary scientists interested and guessing. Until the day comes when we can examine the Uranians in greater detail, they will continue to hold their share of secrets. Here’s a link to NASA’s Solar System Exploration Guide on the moons of Uranus, and here’s an article about a Hubble discovery of new rings and moons around Uranus.

Source: Universe Today , written by Matt Williams Related Topics: Latintos: Uranus moons named after characters in Shakespearean plays Uranus moons named after characters in Shakespearean plays Planet Uranus has an interesting naming history itself and so do have its moons.

They are named for characters in plays written by William Shakespeare and also for characters in Alexander Pope's “Rape of the Lock” [1,2]: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Oberon, Puck (originally designated S/1985 U1), Titania; As You Like It: Rosalind (originally designated S/1986 U4); Hamlet: Ophelia (originally designated S/1986 U8); King Lear: Cordelia (originally designated S/1986 U7); Much Ado About Nothing: Margaret (originally designated S/2003 U3); Othello, the Moor of Venice: Desdemona (originally designated S/1986 U6); Romeo and Juliet: Juliet (originally designated S/1986 U2); The Merchant of Venice: Portia (originally designated S/1986 U1); The Taming of the Shrew: Bianca (originally designated S/1986 U9); The Tempest: Ariel, Caliban (originally designated S/1997 U1), Ferdinand (originally designated S/2001 U

2), Francisco (originally designated S/2001 U3), Miranda, Prospero (originally designated S/1999 U3), Setebos (originally designated S/1999 U1), Stephano (originally designated S/1999 U2), Sycorax (originally designated S/1997 U2), Trinculo (originally designated S/2001 U1); The Winter's Tale: Perdita (originally designated S/1986 U10); Timon of Athens: Cupid (originally designated S/2003 U2); Troilus and Cressida: Cressida (originally designated S/1986 U3); Rape of the Lock: Belinda (originally designated S/1986 U5), Mab (originally designated S/2003 U1), Umbriel.

The Tempest caused a storm of ten moon names. The two largest Uranian moons, Oberon and Titania, were discovered in 1787 by William Herschel [2], who discovered Uranus itself. Ariel and Umbriel were discovered in 1851 by William Lassell [2]. Almost a century later, Gerard Kuiper discovered Miranda in 1948 [2]. The remaining moons, having a systematic original designation, were discovered at the Palomar Observatory (California), at observatories on the island of Hawaii, at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (Victoria, British Columbia) and at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (Chile) as well as remotely via the the Hubble Space Telescope and the Voyager 2 spacescraft. The following is an alphabetical list of the 27 Uranian moons, each linked to a NASA page with details on discovery and (re)naming: Often, more is known about the eponymous character of the fictional work than about the actual moon. Keywords: astronomy, planetary science, nomenclature, dramatic literature References and more to explore [1] Neil deGrasse Tyson: The Pluto Files. W. W.

Norton & Company, New York and London, 2009; page 9. [2] National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) > Solar System Exploration > Uranus: Moons [ solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Display=Moons&Object=Uranus ]. Posted by Axel D. at 11:40 AM No comments: Solar System Header Ariel All of Uranus' larger moons, including Ariel, are thought to consist mostly of roughly equal amounts of water ice and silicate rock. Carbon dioxide has also been detected on Ariel. Ariel's surface appears to be the youngest of all the moons of Uranus. It has few large craters and many small ones, indicating that fairly recent low-impact collisions wiped out the large craters that would have been left by much earlier, bigger strikes. Ariel is also thought to have had the most recent geologic activity of Uranus' larger moons. It is transected by grabens, which are fault-bounded valleys. Ariel has the brightest surface of the five largest Uranian moons, but none of them reflect more than about a third of the sunlight that strikes them.

This suggests that their surfaces have been darkened by a carbonaceous material. Ariel's brightness increases dramatically when it is in opposition -- that is, when the observer is directly between it and the Sun. This indicates that its surface is porous, casting reflectivity-decreasing shadows when illuminated at other angles. Measurements have shown that Ariel's surface temperature rises and falls quickly with the coming and going of sunlight, without a " thermal inertia " lag. That supports the picture of a porous surface, which would tend to insulate the moon and keep the subsurface from heating up. This texture could be the result of eons of micrometeorite strikes tilling the soil. In an earlier time, Ariel appears to have undergone enough heating to allow differentiation -- a separation in which heavier material sinks toward the core and lighter material " floats " at or near the surface. Models indicate that tidal interactions with Uranus may provide an important source of heat. Like the other large Uranian moons, Ariel keeps the same face toward Uranus as it orbits the planet (just as our Moon keeps the same face always toward Earth). Ariels' orbit is prograde, with a low-inclination and eccentricity in respect to Uranus. This is known as a regular orbit.

Discovery: Ariel was discovered 24 October 1851 by William Lassell, one of 19th century England's Grand Amateur astronomers, who used the fortune he made in the brewery business to finance his telescopes. How Ariel Got its Name: The moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and Alexander Pope's " The Rape of the Lock. " Ariel is the name for a character in both Shakespeare's " The Tempest " and Pope's poem. This moon was named Ariel by Sir John Herschel (son of Uranus discoverer Sir William Herschel) at the request of the moon's discoverer, William Lassell. In " The Tempest, " Ariel is a spirit who serves Prospero, a magician who rescued Ariel from a tree in which he had been imprisoned by a witch called Sycorax. Both Prospero and Sycorax were taken as the names of other Uranian moons. In " The Rape of the Lock, " Ariel is a sylph who narrates the satirical poem. Discovered By Rotation Period (Length of Day) By Comparison: Synchronous with Uranus Umbriel Umbriel is the darkest of Uranus' largest moons.

It reflects only 16 percent of the light that strikes its surface, a feature similar to the highland areas of Earth's Moon. Other Uranian moons are much brighter. The process by which Umbriel's ancient cratered surface was darkened remains a mystery. Umbriel has a diameter of about 1,200 km (750 miles). Images taken by Voyager 2 in 1986 revealed a curious bright ring about 140 km (90 miles) in diameter on the moon's dark surface. It is unclear what created the distinctive ring, although it may be frost deposits associated with an impact crater. Discovery: Umbriel was discovered on 24 October 1851 by English astronomer William Lassell. How Umbriel Got its Name: Umbriel is named for a malevolent spirit in English poet Alexander Pope's 18th century poem " Rape of the Lock. " Moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " Rotation Period (Length of Day) By Comparison: Synchronous with Uranus Titania Titania is Uranus' largest moon.

Images taken by Voyager 2 almost 200 years after Titania's discovery revealed signs that the moon was geologically active. A prominent system of fault valleys, some nearly 1,000 miles long, is visible near the terminator (shadow line). The troughs break the crust in two directions, an indication of some tectonic extension of Titania's crust. Deposits of highly reflective material, which may represent frost, can be seen along the sun-facing valley walls. The moon is about 1,600 km (1,000 miles) in diameter. The neutral gray color of Titania is typical of most of the significant Uranian moons. Discovery: Titania was discovered on 11 January 1787 by British astronomer William Herschel. How Titania Got Its Name: Titania is named for the queen of the fairies in William Shakespeare's 16th century play " A Midsummer Night's Dream. " Moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock.

" Rotation Period (Length of Day) By Comparison: Synchronous with orbital period Oberon Oberon is the second largest moon of Uranus. Discovered in 1787, little was known about this moon until Voyager 2 passed it during its flyby of Uranus in January 1986. Oberon is heavily cratered -- similar to Umbriel -- especially when compared to three other moons of Uranus: Ariel, Titania and Miranda. Like all of Uranus' large moons, Oberon is composed of roughly half ice and half rock. Oberon has at least one large mountain that rises about 6 km off the surface. Discovery: Oberon was discovered in January 1787 by William Herschel. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " Other Moons 1. Cordelia Of the 27 moons known to orbit Uranus, Cordelia is closest to the planet. It and Ophelia are shepherd moons whose gravity keeps the particles that constitute Uranus' Epsilon ring from dispersing.

Neither its size nor its albedo have been measured directly, but assuming an albedo of 0.07 like Puck, its surface probably consists of the dark, unprocessed, carbon-rich material found on the C-class of asteroids. Discovery: Cordelia was discovered on 20 January 1986 in images taken by Voyager 2. It is one of the 10 Uranian satellites discovered by the Voyager science team. How Cordelia Got its Name: Originally called S/1986 U7, Cordelia was named for one of the youngest daughters of King Lear in William Shakespeare's play of the same name. King Lear disowns Cordelia for her refusal to flatter him. Others think highly of her, and the King of France marries her for her virtue alone. Cordelia forgives her father in spite of his cruelty toward her and remains loyal to him. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " 2. Ophelia Ophelia is one of the small inner moons of Uranus. Ophelia appears to be the outer satellite straddling Uranus' bright Epsilon ring.

Ophelia and Cordelia are believed to herd the ring material into shape and keep it from drifting into space. All of Uranus' inner moons (those observed by Voyager 2) appear to be roughly half water ice and half rock. Discovery: Ophelia was discovered January 1986 in images sent back by the Voyager 2 spacecraft during its flyby of Uranus. How Ophelia Got its Name: This moon was originally designated S/1986 U8, but was later renamed for the character of Ophelia in Shakespeare's " Hamlet. " Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and fiance of Hamlet in the play. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " 3. Bionca Bianca is one of the small, inner moons of Uranus. Little is known about it other than its size and orbital characteristics. Neither its size or albedo have been measured directly, but by analogy with Belinda and Puck, its surface probably consists of the dark, unprocessed, carbon-rich material found on the C-class of asteroids.

Discovery: Bianca was discovered 23 January 1986 in images taken by Voyager 2. It is one of the 10 Uranian satellites discovered by the Voyager science team. How Bianca Got its Name: Originally called S/1986 U9, Bianca was named after the sister of Katharina (Kate) in Shakespeare's play, " The Taming of the Shrew. " Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " 4. Cressida Cressida is one of the small, inner moons of Uranus. Little is known about it other than its size and orbital characteristics. Based on its low albedo, its surface probably consists of the dark, unprocessed, carbon-rich material found on the C-class of asteroids. Discovery: Cressida was discovered on 9 January 1986 in images taken by Voyager 2. It is one of the 10 Uranian satellites discovered by the Voyager science team.

How Cressida Got its Name: Originally called S/1986 U3, Cressida was named for the title character in William Shakespeare's play, " Troilus and Cressida. " Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " 5. Desdimona Desdemona is one of the small, inner moons of Uranus. Little is known about it other than its size and orbital characteristics. Neither its size nor its albedo have been measured directly, but assuming an albedo of 0.07 like Puck, its surface probably consists of the dark, unprocessed, carbon-rich material found on the C-class of asteroids. Discovery: Desdemona was discovered on 13 January 1986 in images taken by Voyager 2. It is one of the 10 Uranian satellites discovered by the Voyager science team. How Desdemona Got its Name: Originally called S/1986 U6, Desdemona was named after the wife of Othello in William Shakespeare's play, " Othello, the Moor of Venice. " Desdemona is the daughter of a Venetian senator.

She enrages and disappoints her father by marrying Othello; later, on a trip with her husband to Crete, he accuses her of infidelity and murders her. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " 6. Juliet Juliet is one of the small, inner moons of Uranus. Little is known about it other than its size and orbital characteristics. Neither its size nor its albedo have been measured directly, but assuming an albedo of 0.07 like Puck, its surface probably consists of the dark, unprocessed, carbon-rich material found on the C-class of asteroids. Discovery: Juliet was discovered on 3 January 1986 in images taken by Voyager 2. It is one of the 10 Uranian satellites discovered by the Voyager science team. How Juliet Got its Name: Originally called S/1986 U2, Juliet was named for the title character in William Shakespeare's play, " Romeo and Juliet. " Juliet is the daughter of the Capulets, who are sworn enemies to the Montagues.

Nevertheless, she falls in love with Romeo, son of the Montagues, and secretly marries him. The feud between the families eventually leads to the deaths of both Romeo and Juliet. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " 7. Portia Very little is known about Uranus' small and fast-moving moon Portia. It is known that Portia has a diameter of 140 km, making it one of the largest of Uranus' lesser satellites. It is also known that Portia orbits Uranus in less than one Earth day. Discovery: Portia was discovered January 1986 in images sent back by the Voyager 2 spacecraft during its flyby of Uranus. How Portia Got its Name: This moon is named after Portia, the heroine of William Shakespeare's 16th century play " The Merchant of Venice. " It was originally designated S/1986 U 1. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " 8.

Rosalind Little is known about Rosalind, one of several satellites discovered by Voyager 2 as it flew by Uranus in 1986. Rosalind is one of Uranus' inner moons and has a radius of about 36 km (22 miles). Discovery: Rosalind was discovered by the Voyager 2 science team on 13 January 1986. How Rosalind Got its Name: Originally designated S/1986 U4, Rosalind was named for the daughter of a banished Duke in Shakespeare's play "As You Like It." Moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " 9. Mab Mab is a small, inner moon of Uranus. It orbits at the same distance as one of the planet's rings, the Mu ring, and in fact may provide dust for that ring when the moon is struck by small meteoroids or ring particles. Because of its small size and dark color, it was overlooked in the Voyager 2 images until after it was spotted with a ground-based telescope in 2003.

Discovery: Mab was discovered on 25 August 2003 by Mark R. Showalter and Jack J. Lissauer, using the Hubble Space Telescope. How Mab Got its Name: Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " Mab is queen of the fairies in English folklore. She is mentioned in a speech given in William Shakespeare's play, " Romeo and Juliet, " so the name is at least somewhat in keeping with the practice of naming most Uranian moons after characters in Shakespeare's plays. The original designation for this moon was S/2003 U1. 10. Belinda Little is known about Belinda other than its size and orbital characteristics. Based on its low albedo, its surface probably consists of the dark, unprocessed, carbon-rich material found on the C-class of asteroids. Discovery: Belinda was discovered on 13 January 1986 in images taken by Voyager 2. It is one of the 10 Uranian satellites discovered by the Voyager science team.

How Belinda Got its Name: Originally called S/1986 U5, Belinda was named after the character whose lock of hair is stolen in Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " Moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " 11. Perdita Perdita's orbit lies between those of Belinda and Puck, about 76,400 km from Uranus. It is believed to be about 30 km in diameter and very dark (albedo of about 0.08). Little else is known. Discovery: Perdita was discovered 13 years after its picture was taken by Voyager 2 during the spacecraft's flyby in 1986. University of Arizona's Erich Karkoschka found the moon in the public archive of Voyager 2 images when he compared them with those of the Hubble Space Telescope. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognized it as a moon of Uranus, but withdrew its designation as premature when subsequent efforts failed to observe it.

Its existence was finally confirmed, however, in 2003, when the Hubble imaged an object right in Perdita's predicted location. How Perditia Got its Name: Originally called S/1986 U10, Perdita was named for the daughter of Leontes and Hermione in William Shakespeare's play, " The Winter's Tale. " In the play Leontes initially refuses to believe that Perdita is his daughter because he thinks that his wife has had an affair with king Polixenes of Bohemia. Circumstances lead to Perdita being abandoned by her father and later found and raised by a Bohemian shepherd. 16 years later Bohemian Prince Florizel meets and falls in love with Perdita and it is revealed that she is the princess of Sicily. Perdita's father Leontes reconciles his differences with king Polixenes, and the marriage is ratified. 12. Puck Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " Puck is one of the small inner moons of Uranus.

With a diameter of about 150 km (about 90 miles), Puck is the largest of Uranus' known lesser satellites. Puck orbits Uranus in less than one Earth day. Discovery: Puck was discovered December 1985 in images sent back by the Voyager 2 spacecraft during its flyby of Uranus. How Puck Got its Name: Originally designated S/1985 U1, Puck is named for a mischievous sprite in William Shakespeare's " A Midsummer Night's Dream. " Moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's " Rape of the Lock. " 13. Cupid Cupid is one of the inner moons of Uranus, so small and dark that it escaped the notice of Voyager 2 during the spacecraft's visit in 1986. Little is known about it. Discovery: Cupid was discovered on 25 August 2003 by M.R. Showalter and J.J. Lissauer, using the Hubble Space Telescope.

How Cupid Got its Name: Originally called S/2003 U2, Cupid was named for the Roman god of love, who appears in William Shakespeare's play, "Timon of Athens" (in keeping with the custom of naming most of Uranus' moons after Shakespearean characters). Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's "Rape of the Lock." 15. Francisco Francisco is a very small, dark moon which orbits Uranus in the opposite direction from the regular moons and the planet's own rotation (a retrograde orbit). Though it orbits far from the planet (about 4.3 million km), it is the innermost moon of the irregular moons of Uranus. Discovery: Francisco was discovered on 13 August 2001 at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory by John J. Kavalaars, Matthew J. Holman, Dan Milisavljevic, and Tommy Grav.

How Francisco Got its Name: Originally called S/2001 U3, Francisco was named after a character in William Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest." Francisco is a nobleman who is shipwrecked along with King Alonso (father of Ferdinand) and others. He attempts to comfort the king at the supposed loss of his son Ferdinand. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's "Rape of the Lock." 20. Caliban Caliban orbits Uranus in the opposite direction from the regular moons and the rotation of the planet itself (called a retrograde orbit). Its orbit is also somewhat inclined and eccentric, and very far from the planet -- more than 10 times farther than Oberon, the farthest regular moon. These characteristics suggest that Caliban was an independent body that was captured by Uranus' gravity. It is thought to be about 72 km in diameter, and to be the second largest irregular satellite of Uranus (about half the size of Sycorax). The size estimate is based on the brightness of the moon and an assumed albedo of 0.04, typical of captured asteroids in the outer solar system.

Discovery: Caliban was discovered on 6 September 1997 at Palomar Observatory by B. Gladman, P. Nicholson, J. A. Burns, and J. Kavelaars. This group of astronomers also discovered another Uranian moon at the same time, which was named Sycorax after the mother of Caliban in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. How Caliban Got its Name: Originally called S/1997 U1, Caliban was named for a character in Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest." Caliban was forced into labor on an island owned by Prospero. He was human, but "not honour'd with a human shape," and is referred to as a mooncalf or freckled monster. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's "Rape of the Lock." 21. Stephano About 32 km in diameter (assuming an albedo of 0.04), Stephano is a small, dark moon which orbits Uranus in the opposite direction from the regular satellites and the planet's rotation (a retrograde orbit).

Its orbital characteristics are similar to those of Caliban, suggesting a common origin. Discovery: Stephano was discovered on 18 July 1999 by Brett Gladman, Matthew Holman, John J. Kavelaars, Jean-Marc Petit, and Hans Scholl using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatory on the island of Hawaii. They discovered Prospero and Setebos at the same time. How Stephano Got its Name: Originally called S/1999 U2, Stephano was named for a boisterous and often drunken butler of King Alonso in William Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest." He, Trincolo and Caliban plot to kill the island's ruler, Prospero, and Stephano plans to marry Prospero's daughter Miranda and rule the island himself. In his drunken state, he makes promises to Trincolo and Caliban which he cannot keep. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's "Rape of the Lock." 22.

Trinculo About 18 km in diameter (assuming an albedo of 0.04), Trinculo is a small, dark moon orbiting Uranus in the opposite direction from the regular moons and the planet's rotation (called a retrograde orbit). Discovery: Trinculo was discovered on 13 August 2001 by Matthew Holman, John J. Kavelaars and Dan Milisavljevic at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, British Columbia, and by using the 4-m reflector at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. How Trinculo Got its Name: Originally called S/2001 U1, Trinculo was named for the jester in Shakespeare's play "The Tempest." Initially, Trinculo plots with Stephano and Caliban to kill Prospero, but later aligns himself with whomever he perceives to be the leader in any situation in which he finds himself. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's "Rape of the Lock." 23.

Sycorax With a diameter of about 150 km (assuming an albedo of 0.04), Sycorax is the largest of the irregular moons which orbit Uranus in the opposite direction from the regular moons and the planet's rotation (known as a retrograde orbit). Sycorax orbits Uranus at a distance of more than 12 million km, over 20 times as far as Oberon, which is Uranus' most distant regular moon. Its orbital characteristics are similar to those of Setebos and Prospero, suggesting a possible common origin. But its light red color differs from the gray of the other two moons, implying a different origin. Discovery: Sycorax was discovered on 6 September 1997 by Philip D. Nicholson, Brett J. Gladman, Joseph A. Burns and John J. Kavelaars using the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory. They discovered another Uranian moon at the same time, which was named Caliban after the son of Sycorax in Shakespeare's play.

How Sycorax Got its Name: Originally called S/1997 U2, Sycorax was named for a witch who was the mother of Caliban in William Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest," and who has died before the action of the play begins. She had been banished to the same island in the Mediterranean to which Prospero was later banished and had been responsible for the unjust imprisonment and enslavement of the sprite Ariel, later freed by Prospero. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's "Rape of the Lock." 24. Margaret Margaret is considered an irregular moon of Uranus because of the eccentricity and inclination of its orbit, but it is the only such moon that travels in a prograde direction -- that is, in the same direction as the regular moons and the planet's rotation about its axis. Only about 20 km in diameter and very dark, it is likely an object that was captured by Uranus' gravity. Discovery: Margaret was discovered on 29 August 2003 by Scott S. Sheppard and David C.

Jewitt with the Subaru 8.2-m reflector at the Mauna Kea Observatory on the island of Hawaii. How Margaret Got its Name: Originally called S/2003 U3, Margaret was named after a woman who serves Hero in William Shakespeare's play, "Much Ado About Nothing." Margaret is the lady-in-waiting for Hero and is mistaken for Hero when she entertains Borachio at Hero's window, something that causes Hero much embarrassment at her wedding to Claudio. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's "Rape of the Lock." 25. Prospero At about 50 km in diameter, Prospero is a small, dark, irregular moon that orbits Uranus in the opposite direction from the regular satellites and the rotation of the planet, itself (known as a retrograde orbit). Its orbital characteristics are similar to those of Sycorax and Setebos, suggesting a common origin. But its gray color differs from the light red color of Sycorax, implying a different origin. Discovery: Prospero was discovered 18 July 1999 by Matthew J. Holman, John J.

Kavelaars, Brett J. Gladman, Jean-Marc Petit, and Hans Scholl using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatory on the island of Hawaii. They discovered Setebos and Stephano at the same time. How Prospero Got its Name: Originally called S/1999 U3, Prospero was named for a sorcerer in William Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest." Prospero, rightfully Duke of Milan, has his dukedom usurped by his brother Antonio with the help of Alonso, King of Naples. He is forced to flee with his daughter Miranda to an island in the Mediterranean, where he perfects his magical powers, hoping to use them to regain his dukedom. After 12 years on the island, he causes Alonso and Antonio to shipwreck on the island, eventually reconciles with them, and is restored to his dukedom. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's "Rape of the Lock." 26.

Setebos Setebos is a small, dark moon (about 48 km in diameter, assuming an albedo of 0.04) which orbits Uranus in the opposite direction from the regular moons and the planet's rotation (known as a retrograde orbit). It is one of the farthest moons from Uranus, orbiting its home planet at a distance of more than 17 million km. Its orbital characteristics are similar to those of Prospero and Sycorax, suggesting a common origin. But its gray color differs from the light red of Sycorax, implying a different origin. Discovery: Setebos was discovered on 18 July 1999 by John J. Kavelaars, Brett Gladman, Matthew Holman, Jean-Marc Petit, and Hans Scholl Using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatory on the island of Hawaii. They discovered Prospero and Stephano at the same time.

How Setebos Got its Name: Originally called S/1999 U1, Setebos was the name of a South American (Patagonian) deity, which William Shakespeare used as the god worshipped by Sycorax the witch and her son Caliban in the play, "The Tempest." Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's "Rape of the Lock." 27. Ferdinand Ferdinand is a very small, dark moon (about 20 km in diameter) which orbits Uranus at a greater distance than any other known satellite of that planet. Its orbit is highly eccentric and in the opposite direction from the regular moons and the rotation of the planet, itself -- known as a retrograde orbit. This suggests that it was an independent body that was captured by Uranus' gravity. Little else is known about it. Discovery: Ferdinand was discovered on 13 August 2001 by Dan Milisavljevic, Matthew J. Holman, John J. Kavelaars, and Tommy Grav, at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.

How Ferdinand Got its Name: Originally called S/2001 U2, Ferdinand was named for the son of Alonso, king of Naples in William Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest." Ferdinand eventually marries Miranda, daughter of Prospero, and aids his father-in-law in regaining his Dukedom in Milan. Moons of Uranus are named for characters in Shakespeare's plays and from Alexander Pope's "Rape of the Lock." The planet Uranus Uranus as seen from Voyager 2 Uranus Facts: Uranus's rings look white in pictures, but they are really made of asphalt-colored material. When it was first discovered, Uranus was mistaken for a star. It was named "34 Tauri". Uranus rotates on its side like Pluto. Uranus is the only planet to be named after a Greek god, not a Roman one. How big is the planet? Comparison of the size of Uranus and the Earth Uranus is 51,118 km or about four Earths wide. It is the third widest and fourth heaviest planet in the Solar System. [2] What is its surface like?

Uranus has no surface that you could stand on without going deep into the atmosphere. Under the atmosphere, there may be a uniform mixture of rock and ice. [3] What are its rings like? Uranus has eleven rings. These rings are made of large rocks up to 10 m wide! They are dark in color and very hard to see. They were discovered by accident in 1977. Scientists were studying a bright star near Uranus. However, the star's light was blocked before and after it disappeared behind the planet. From this, they figured out that the planet had a ring system. [4] What are its moons like? Uranus's rings and moons Uranus has 27 known moons, which places it third in the Solar System for number of moons! The five main ones are Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon. [5] Miranda Miranda is the smallest and closest of Uranus's major moons. It is mainly made of ice and rock. Miranda's surface has grooves, cliffs, and valleys. The moon was named after a character in "The Tempest," a play by Shakespeare. [6] Ariel Ariel is made of rock and ice.

Ariel has many valleys, but not many craters. Ariel was named after a spirit in "The Tempest" by Shakespeare. [7] Umbriel Umbriel is made of lots of ices and some rock. It is also the darkest of Uranus's major moons. Umbriel was named after a character in the poem "The Rape of the Lock" by Alexander Pope. [8] Titania Titania is the largest moon of Uranus. It is mostly ice and rock. The surface is covered with canyons. It was named after the Queen of the Fairies in "A Midsummer's Night Dream," a play by Shakespeare. [9] Oberon Oberon is the outermost of the major moons of Uranus. It is made of the same things as Titania. It has many craters. Some of them have white rays around them and dark crater floors. It was named after the King of the Fairies in "A Midsummer's Night Dream". [10] Other moons There are 13 tiny moons known to be orbiting Uranus inside Miranda's orbit. Nine more tiny moons are known to be in big orbits beyond Oberon's orbit.

[11] How long is a day on Uranus? One day on Uranus is about 17 Earth hours long. Uranus spins on its side, maybe because of a big impact early in the history of the Solar System. [12] How long is a year on Uranus? One year on Uranus would be 30,708 days or 84 years on Earth. [13] What is it made of? Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus is thought to be made mostly of rock and ices. The gases in its atmosphere are mostly hydrogen and helium. Other gases found in smaller amounts are ammonia, water, and methane. [14] Uranus' blue color comes from methane clouds, which absorb red light and reflect blue light. [15] How much would Uranus's gravity pull on me? If you were floating close to the cloud tops of Uranus, you would be pulled down with a force about nine tenths as strong as Earth's gravity. [16] Who is it named after? Uranus was named after Ouranos, the Greek name for the sky. According to Greek mythology, Ouranos was the husband and son of Gaia, Mother Earth.

[17] References Uranus Moons Jupiter Facts Uranus Moons Uranus has 27 known moons (satellites). All of it’s moons compositions are generally rock and ice. Uranus’s moons are generally categorized as the Inner Moons (13), Major Moons (5) and Irregular Moons (9). The Inner Moons are named Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda, Perdita, Puck and Mab. The Major Moons are named Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon. The Irregular Moons are named Francisco, Caliban, Stephano, Trinculo, Sycorax, Margaret, Prospero, Setebos and Ferdinand. Some of these names may look familiar to you, a matter of fact, all of Uranus’s moons are named after characters from Alexander Pope and William Shakespeare works. Titania Uranus’s largest moon is Titania with a diameter of 1,577.8 km or 980 miles and a mass of 3.42 x 1021 kg.

This makes it the eighth largest moon in our solar system (less than half the size of Earth’s moon). Titania was discovered on January 11, 1787 by William Herschel. Its distance from Uranus is 436,300 km or 271,104 miles and takes 8.7 Earth days to make 1 complete orbit around Uranus. Titania’s orbit around Uranus is almost a perfect circle with the orbit eccentricity at 0.0011 and is closest (Periapsis) to the planet at 435,820 km or 270,805 miles and farthest (Apoapsis) from the planet at 436,780 km or 271,402 miles. The orbit inclination is only 0.079°, which means it’s North pole is getting about 42 years of straight sunlight and about 42 years of straight darkness. You’ll remember that Uranus is on its side so when the moons orbit the planet they are actually moving in a vertical manner compared to the horizontal manner we are accustomed to here on Earth.

The density of Titania is 1.662 g/cm3, which is less than half the density of Earth’s moon. Miranda Another moon of Uranus that is interesting is Miranda. It was discovered on February 16, 1948 by Gerard P. Kuiper. Its distance from Uranus is 129,900 km or 80,716 miles and takes 1.413 Earth days to make 1 complete orbit around the planet. Miranda’s average diameter is 471.6 km or 293 miles with a mass of 6.5941 x 1019 kg. Sounds boring so far, what’s so interesting about it? Well if you like the Grand Canyon, then you’ll definitely like Miranda. This moon’s fault canyons can be more than 10 times as deep as the Grand Canyon. Scientists are not sure why such a rigid surface exists on Miranda, where some believe it may be from other objects crashing into it which would raise the partially melted ice to the surface causing this rigid formation.

Building on this possible theory since about 42 years are in straight sunlight for each pole the Sun may play some role in helping the ice melt when foreign objects crash into it. Ariel What’s Uranus’s brightest moon? That would be Ariel, which was discovered on October 24, 1851 by William Lassell. Its distance from Uranus is 190,900 km or 118,620 miles and takes 2.52 Earth days to make 1 complete orbit around the planet. Ariel’s average diameter is 1,157.8 km or 719.4 miles with a mass of 1.2948 x 1021 kg. Its composition is believed to be about 50% ice and 50% rock. Ariel’s other notable feature is its long canyons which run across its surface. The reason for these unique canyons is unknown. Some scientists rule out it being from water because at these temperatures it is very difficult for water to form.

However one must also think that if a large asteroid came colliding with Ariel, enough heat could be produced from the collision which would temporarily melt the ice. Umbriel Ever wonder what a fluorescent cheerio would look like on a moon. Then look at Uranus’s moon Umbriel which has a bright ring spot on it. One of the theories behind this distinctive feature is it was impacted by some large object which caused the inner material (which is brighter than the surface) of the moon to surface. But that is still a mystery on why it has that bright ring. Umbriel was discovered in the year 1851 by William Lassell. Its distance from Uranus is 266,000 km or 165,285 miles and takes 4.144 Earth days to make 1 complete orbit around the planet. Umbriel’s average diameter is 1,169.4 km or 727 miles with a mass of 1.2214 x 1023 kg.

List of Uranus Moons e Uranus moons named after Shakespearean plays 1Miranda is - ASTRO - 104 View Full Document e) Uranus moons named after Shakespearean plays: 1.Miranda is from the Shakespearean play “The Tempest” 2. Ariel is from “The Tempest” 3. Umbriel is from “Rape of the Lock” 4. Titania is the queen of the fairies in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” 5. Oberon is the king of the fairies in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” 3 This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. View Full Document References: 1. "Shakespeare's The Tempest at Absolute Shakespeare." Absolute Shakespeare - Plays, Quotes, Summaries, Essays. .. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. < 2. "Introduction to Shakespeare's Ariel from The Tempest." Shakespeare Online . Web. 30 Oct. 2010. < online.com/plays/characters/arielbio.html>. 3. "* Umbriel - (Astronomy): Definition." * Home . Web. 30 Oct.

2010. < 4. Increase, By Their. "Midsummer Night's Dream - Titania Speaking to Me." William Shakespeare Experience . Web. 30 Oct. 2010. < dream-titania-speaking.html>. 5. "A Midsummer Night's Dream Synopsis." Shakespeare Resource Center . Web. 30 Oct. 2010. < 4) Mission scientists used Voyager to determine the masses of the outer planets by measuring the amount of the boost it got from passing a planet’s gravitational pull. For example, Jupiter would have a huge boost to explore further planets since it has the second greatest gravitational force (after the Sun). Therefore, the higher the gravity of the nearby planet, the higher the boost will be, and the higher the mass is. 5) a) No, only Earth can hang on to water water it its atmosphere because Titan’s velocity is 3x 10 -11 times greater than its escape velocity. Work shown: b) No, Titan also cannot hang on to atomic hydrogen. Work shown: 4 This is the end of the preview. Sign up to access the rest of the document.

TERM Karen Sanchez Astronomy 104 Professor Wilcots DIS 404 21 November 2010 Homework 4 1. Astro 104- HW 4

Question: Named for a Shakespearean queen, which is the largest of the moons of Uranus?
Answer: Titania