Desdemona (moon)

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There is also a minor planet called 666 Desdemona.
Desdemona
Desdemona
Discovery image of Desdemona
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
 32.0 ± 4 km[2][3][4]
~14,500 km²[lower-alpha 1]
Volume ~164,000 km³[lower-alpha 1]
Mass ~1.8×1017 kg[lower-alpha 1]
Mean density
 ~1.3 g/cm³ (assumed)[3]
~0.011 m/s2[lower-alpha 1]
~0.027 km/s[lower-alpha 1]
synchronous[2]
zero[2]
Albedo <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Temperature ~64 K[lower-alpha 1]

Desdemona (/ˌdɛzdᵻˈmoʊnə/ DEZ-di-MOH-nə) is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 13 January 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 6.[6] Desdemona is named after the wife of Othello in William Shakespeare's play Othello. It is also designated Uranus X.[7]

Desdemona belongs to Portia Group of satellites, which also includes Bianca, Cressida, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda and Perdita.[5] These satellites have similar orbits and photometric properties.[5] Other than its orbit,[1] radius of 32 km[2] and geometric albedo of 0.08[5] virtually nothing is known about Desdemona.

At the Voyager 2 images Desdemona appears as an elongated object, the major axis pointing towards Uranus. The ratio of axes of Desdemona's prolate spheroid is 0.6 ± 0.3.[2] Its surface is grey in color.[2]

Desdemona may collide with one of its neighboring moons Cressida or Juliet within the next 100 million years.[8]

See also

References

Explanatory notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Calculated on the basis of other parameters.

Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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