Desdemona (moon)
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Stephen P. Synnott / Voyager 2 |
| Discovery date | January 13, 1986 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
Mean orbit radius | 62,658.364 ± 0.047 km[1] |
| Eccentricity | 0.00013 ± 0.000070[1] |
| 0.473649597 ± 0.000000014 d[1] | |
| Inclination | 0.11252 ± 0.037° (to Uranus' equator)[1] |
| Satellite of | Uranus |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 90 × 54 × 54 km[2] |
Mean radius | 34 ± 4 km[2] |
| ~14,500 km²[3] | |
| Volume | ~164,000 km³[3] |
| Mass | ~2.3×1017 kg[3] |
Mean density | ~1.3 g/cm³ assumed |
| ~0.011 m/s2[3] | |
| ~0.027 km/s[3] | |
| synchronous[2] | |
| zero[2] | |
| Albedo | 0.08 ± 0.01[4] |
| Temperature | ~64 K[3] |
Desdemona is a closer moon to Uranus. It was found from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 1986-01-13, and was given the designation S/1986 U 6.[5] Desdemona is named after the wife of Othello in William Shakespeare's play Othello. It is also designated Uranus X.[6]
Desdemona belongs to Portia Group of moons, which also includes Bianca, Cressida, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda and Perdita.[4] These moons have similar orbits and photometric properties.[4] Unfortunately, other than its orbit,[1] radius of 34 km[2] and geometric albedo of 0.08[4] almost nothing is known about it.
At the Voyager 2 images Desdemona appears as a stretched object, the major axis pointing towards Uranus. The ratio of axises of the Desdemona's prolate spheroid is 0.6 ± 0.3.[2] Its surface is grey in color.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Jacobson, R.A.. The Orbits of the Inner Uranian Satellites From Hubble Space Telescope and Voyager2 Observations. The Astronomical Journal 115 (3) (1998). p. 1195–1199. doi:10.1086/300263.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Karkoschka, Erich. Voyager's Eleventh Discovery of a Satellite of Uranus and Photometry and the First Size Measurements of Nine Satellites. Icarus 151 (1) (2001). p. 69–77. doi:10.1006/icar.2001.6597.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Calculated on the basis of other parameters
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Karkoschka, Erich. Comprehensive Photometry of the Rings and 16 Satellites of Uranus with the Hubble Space Telescope. Icarus 151 (1) (2001). p. 51–68. doi:10.1006/icar.2001.6596.
- ↑ Smith, B. A.. IAU Circular No. 4164 (January 16, 1986). Retrieved 2006-08-06.
- ↑ Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers. Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature (July 21, 2006)USGS Astrogeology. Retrieved 2006-08-06.
Other websites
- Desdemona Profile Archived 2007-06-09 at the Wayback Machine by NASA's Solar System Exploration
| Moons | Ariel · Belinda · Bianca · Caliban · Cordelia · Cressida · Cupid · Desdemona · Ferdinand · Francisco · Juliet · Mab · Margaret · Miranda · Oberon · Ophelia · Perdita · Portia · Prospero · Puck · Rosalind · Setebos · Stephano · Sycorax · Titania · Trinculo · Umbriel Other: Arieal features · Miranda features · Puck Craters · Umbriel craters Miranda's Verona Rupes · Umbriel Crater Wunda |  |
|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | ||
| Discovery | ||
| Exploration | ||
| Other | ||
