Ophelia (moon) - Misplaced Pages

Moon of Uranus

Ophelia
Discovery
Ophelia (image taken 21 January 1986)
Discovered by	Richard J. Terrile / Voyager 2
Discovery date	January 20, 1986
Designations
Designation	Uranus VII
Pronunciation	/oʊˈfiːliə/
Adjectives	Ophelian /ɒˈfiːliən/
Orbital characteristics
Semi-major axis	53763.390±0.847 km
Eccentricity	0.00992±0.000107
Orbital period (sidereal)	0.37640039±0.00000357 d
Average orbital speed	10.39 km/s
Inclination	0.10362°±0.055° (to Uranus' equator)
Satellite of	Uranus
Group	ring shepherd
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	54 × 38 × 38 km
Surface area	~5900 km
Volume	40800±50.4% km
Mass	(3.57±0.32)×10 kg
Mean density	0.87+0.89 −0.30 g/cm
Surface gravity	~0.003–0.007 m/s
Escape velocity	~0.013–0.016 km/s
Synodic rotation period	synchronous
Axial tilt	zero
Albedo	0.065±0.01 0.07
Temperature	~65 K
Only two dimensions are known; the third dimension has been assumed to equal the smaller known dimension.

Ophelia is a moon of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on January 20, 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 8. It was not seen again until the Hubble Space Telescope recovered it in 2003. Ophelia was named after the daughter of Polonius, Ophelia, in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. It is also designated Uranus VII.

Other than its orbit, size of 54 × 38 km, and geometric albedo of 0.065, virtually nothing is known about it. In Voyager 2, images Ophelia appears as an elongated object, with its major axis pointing towards Uranus. The ratio of axes of the Ophelia's prolate spheroid is 0.7 ± 0.3.

Ophelia acts as the outer shepherd satellite for Uranus's ε ring. The orbit of Ophelia is within the synchronous orbit radius of Uranus, and is therefore slowly decaying due to tidal forces.

Notes

^ Calculated on the basis of other parameters.

References

^ Smith, B. A. (1986-01-27). "Satellites and Rings of Uranus". IAU Circular. 4168. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
Benjamin Smith (1903). The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia.
"Ophelian". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^ Jacobson, R. A. (1998). "The Orbits of the Inner Uranian Satellites From Hubble Space Telescope and Voyager 2 Observations". The Astronomical Journal. 115 (3): 1195–1199. Bibcode:1998AJ....115.1195J. doi:10.1086/300263. S2CID 118616209.
^ Karkoschka, Erich (2001). "Voyager's Eleventh Discovery of a Satellite of Uranus and Photometry and the First Size Measurements of Nine Satellites". Icarus. 151 (1): 69–77. Bibcode:2001Icar..151...69K. doi:10.1006/icar.2001.6597.
^ French, Richard G.; Hedman, Matthew M.; Nicholson, Philip D.; Longaretti, Pierre-Yves; McGhee-French, Colleen A. (2024-03-15). "The Uranus system from occultation observations (1977–2006): Rings, pole direction, gravity field, and masses of Cressida, Cordelia, and Ophelia". Icarus. 411: 115957. arXiv:2401.04634. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2024.115957. ISSN 0019-1035.
^ Karkoschka, Erich (2001). "Comprehensive Photometry of the Rings and 16 Satellites of Uranus with the Hubble Space Telescope". Icarus. 151 (1): 51–68. Bibcode:2001Icar..151...51K. doi:10.1006/icar.2001.6596.
Williams, Dr. David R. (23 November 2007). "Uranian Satellite Fact Sheet". NASA (National Space Science Data Center). Retrieved 12 December 2008.
Showalter, M. R.; Lissauer, J. J. (2003-09-03). "Satellites of Uranus". IAU Circular. 8194. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
"Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology. July 21, 2006. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
Esposito, L. W. (2002). "Planetary rings". Reports on Progress in Physics. 65 (12): 1741–1783. Bibcode:2002RPPh...65.1741E. doi:10.1088/0034-4885/65/12/201. S2CID 250909885.

External links

Uranus

Outline

Geography

Major moons

Astronomy

Discovery	William Herschel Gerard Kuiper James L. Elliot William Lassell
General	Uranus-crossing minor planets
Co-orbitals	Trojans 2011 QF₉₉ 2014 YX₄₉ 83982 Crantor (472651) 2015 DB216

Exploration

Past	Voyager 2 (1986 flyby)
Future	Tianwen-4 (2029, flyby 2045)
Proposals	MUSE OCEANUS ODINUS Uranus Orbiter and Probe Uranus Pathfinder

Fiction

Moons of Uranus

Listed in approximately increasing distance from Uranus

Inner

Major (spheroid)

Miranda
Ariel
Umbriel
Titania
Oberon

Outer (irregular)

Prograde	Margaret
Retrograde	Francisco Caliban Stephano S/2023 U 1 Trinculo Sycorax Prospero Setebos Ferdinand

Geological features

v t e Natural satellites of the Solar System
Planetary satellites of	Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune
Dwarf planet satellites of	Orcus Pluto Haumea Quaoar Makemake Gonggong Eris
Minor-planet moons	Near-Earth Florence Didymos Dimorphos Moshup Squannit 1994 CC 2001 SN₂₆₃ Main belt Kalliope Linus Euphrosyne Daphne Peneius Eugenia Petit-Prince Sylvia Romulus Remus Minerva Aegis Gorgoneion Camilla Elektra Kleopatra Alexhelios Cleoselene Ida Dactyl Roxane Olympias Pulcova Balam Dinkinesh (Selam) Jupiter trojans Patroclus Menoetius Hektor Skamandrios Eurybates Queta TNOs Lempo Hiisi Paha 2002 UX₂₅ Sila–Nunam Salacia Actaea Varda Ilmarë Gǃkúnǁʼhòmdímà Gǃòʼé ǃHú 2013 FY₂₇
Ranked by size	Ganymede largest: 5268 km / 0.413 Earths Titan Callisto Io Moon Europa Triton Titania Rhea Oberon Iapetus Charon Umbriel Ariel Dione Tethys Dysnomia Enceladus Miranda Vanth Proteus Mimas Ilmarë Nereid Hiʻiaka Actaea Hyperion Phoebe ...
Discovery timeline Inner moons Irregular moons List Planetary-mass moons Naming Subsatellite Regular moons Trojan moons

Categories:

See also

Notes

References

External links