 Discovery image of Prospero, taken by the CFHT in July 1999 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | |
| Discovery date | 18 July 1999 |
| Designations | |
| Designation | Uranus XVIII |
| Pronunciation | /ˈprɒspɛroʊ/ |
| Adjectives | Prosperonian /prɒspɛˈroʊniən/, Prosperian /prɒˈspɪəriən/ |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Mean orbit radius | 16,256,000 km |
| Eccentricity | 0.4448 |
| Orbital period (sidereal) | 1978.29 d |
| Inclination | 152° (to the ecliptic) |
| Satellite of | Uranus |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mean radius | 25 km (estimate) <50 km |
| Surface area | ~8000 km (estimate) |
| Volume | ~65,000 km (estimate) |
| Mass | ~8.5×10 kg (estimate) |
| Mean density | ~1.3 g/cm (assumed) |
| Surface gravity | ~0.0063 m/s (estimate) |
| Escape velocity | ~0.021 km/s (estimate) |
| Synodic rotation period | 7.145±0.092 h |
| Axial tilt | ? |
| Albedo | 0.04 (assumed) |
| Temperature | ~65 K (estimate) |
Prospero is a relatively small retrograde irregular satellite of Uranus discovered on 18 July 1999 by the astrophysicist Matthew Holman and his team, and given the provisional designation S/1999 U 3. Confirmed as Uranus XVIII it was named after the sorcerer Prospero in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
The orbital parameters suggest that it may belong to the same dynamic cluster as Sycorax and Setebos, suggesting common origin. However, this suggestion does not appear to be supported by the observed colours. The satellite appears neutral (grey) in visible light (colour indices B−V=0.80, R−V=0.39), similar to Setebos but different from Sycorax (which is light red).
See also
References
- Benjamin Smith (1903), The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Emenyonu, Ernest (2003), Emerging perspectives on Chinua Achebe, v. 1.
- in scare quotes in Bate (1997) The genius of Shakespeare
- ^ Sheppard, Jewitt & Kleyna 2005, p. 523, Table 3.
- ^ Yeomans, Donald K. (28 June 2007). "Planetary Satellite Mean Orbital Parameters". JPL/NASA. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
- ^ Sheppard, Jewitt & Kleyna 2005, p. 523, Table 3 ... r (km) ... 25 ... Radius of satellite assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04.
- ^ Farkas-Takács, A.; Kiss, Cs.; Pál, A.; Molnár, L.; Szabó, Gy. M.; Hanyecz, O.; et al. (September 2017). "Properties of the Irregular Satellite System around Uranus Inferred from K2, Herschel, and Spitzer Observations". The Astronomical Journal. 154 (3): 13. arXiv:1706.06837. Bibcode:2017AJ....154..119F. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa8365. S2CID 118869078. 119.
- Grav, Tommy; Holman, Matthew J.; Gladman, Brett J.; Aksnes, Kaare Photometric survey of the irregular satellites, Icarus, 166, (2003), pp. 33–45. arXiv:astro-ph/0301016
- Grav, Holman & Fraser 2004.
- Grav, Tommy; Holman, Matthew J.; Fraser, Wesley C. (20 September 2004). "Photometry of Irregular Satellites of Uranus and Neptune". The Astrophysical Journal. 613 (1): L77 – L80. arXiv:astro-ph/0405605. Bibcode:2004ApJ...613L..77G. doi:10.1086/424997. S2CID 15706906.
- Sheppard, S. S.; Jewitt, D.; Kleyna, J. (2005). "An Ultradeep Survey for Irregular Satellites of Uranus: Limits to Completeness". The Astronomical Journal. 129 (1): 518–525. arXiv:astro-ph/0410059. Bibcode:2005AJ....129..518S. doi:10.1086/426329. S2CID 18688556.
External links
- Prospero Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
- David Jewitt pages
- Uranus' Known Satellites (by Scott S. Sheppard)
- MPC: Natural Satellites Ephemeris Service
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