Ophelia (moon)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- There is also an asteroid called 171 Ophelia.
| Discovery | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovered by | Richard J. Terrile / Voyager 2 | ||||||
| Discovered in | January 20, 1986 | ||||||
| Orbital characteristics | |||||||
| Mean radius | 53,764 km | ||||||
| Eccentricity | 0.0101 | ||||||
| Orbital period | 0.37641 d | ||||||
| Inclination | 0.093° (to Uranus' equator) | ||||||
| Is a satellite of | Uranus | ||||||
| Physical characteristics | |||||||
| Mean diameter | 54 × 38 km<ref name="Karkoschka">Karkoschka, Erich (2001). "Comprehensive Photometry of the Rings and 16 Satellites of Uranus with the Hubble Space Telescope". Icarus 151: 51–68. DOI:10.1006/icar.2001.6596. Retrieved on 2006-08-05.</ref> | ||||||
| Surface area | ~5800 km² (estimate) | ||||||
| Volume | ~41,000 km³ (estimate) | ||||||
| Mass | ~5.3×1016 kg (estimate) | ||||||
| Mean density | ~1.3 g/cm³ (estimate) | ||||||
| Surface gravity | ~0.0070 m/s2 (estimate) | ||||||
| Escape velocity | ~0.018 km/s (estimate) | ||||||
| Rotation period | synchronous (assumed) | ||||||
| Axial tilt | zero (assumed) | ||||||
| Albedo | 0.07 (assumed) | ||||||
| Surface temp. |
| ||||||
| Atmospheric pressure | 0 kPa | ||||||
Ophelia (oe-fee'-lee-ə, IPA: [ɔʊˈfiːliə]) is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was named after the daughter of Polonius in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. It is also designated Uranus VII.<ref name="Gazetteer">Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers. Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology (July 21, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-08-05.</ref>
Ophelia acts as the outer shepherd satellite for Uranus' Epsilon ring.<ref name="Karkoschka"/> The orbit of Ophelia is within the synchronous orbit radius of Uranus, and therefore the moon is slowly decaying due to tidal forces <ref> See Tidal deceleration </ref>.
It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on January 20, 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 8.<ref>Smith, B. A. (January 27, 1986). IAU Circular No. 4168. Retrieved on 2006-08-05.</ref> It was not seen until the Hubble Space Telescope recovered it in 2003.<ref>Showalter, M. R.; Lissauer, J. J. (September 3, 2003). IAU Circular No. 8194. Retrieved on 2006-08-05.</ref>
[edit] References
<references/>
| edit Uranus' natural satellites |
|---|
| Cordelia · Ophelia · Bianca · Cressida · Desdemona · Juliet · Portia · Rosalind · Cupid · Belinda · Perdita · Puck · Mab Miranda · Ariel · Umbriel · Titania · Oberon Francisco · Caliban · Stephano · Trinculo · Sycorax · Margaret · Prospero · Setebos · Ferdinand |
| See also: Rings of Uranus |
bg:Офелия (спътник) ca:Ofèlia (satèl·lit) cs:Ophelia (měsíc) da:Ophelia (måne) de:Ophelia (Mond) es:Ofelia (luna) fr:Ophélie (lune) hr:Ofelija it:Ofelia (astronomia) he:אופליה (ירח) nl:Ophelia (maan) ja:オフィーリア (衛星) nn:Uranusmånen Ophelia pl:Ofelia (księżyc) sk:Ophelia (mesiac) fi:Ofelia (kuu) sv:Ophelia zh:天卫七
