Uranus Satelites

Uranus' Satellites

Uranus has 27 named moons:

• Unlike the other bodies in the solar system which have names from classical mythology, Uranus' moons take their names from the writings of Shakespeare and Pope.
• They form three distinct classes: the 11 small very dark inner ones discovered by Voyager 2, the 5 large ones (right), and the newly discovered much more distant ones.
• Most have nearly circular orbits in the plane of Uranus' equator (and hence at a large angle to the plane of the ecliptic); the outer 4 are much more elliptical.

           Distance  Radius    Mass
Satellite  (000 km)   (km)     (kg)   Discoverer   Date
---------  --------  ------  -------  ----------  -----
Cordelia         50      13    ?      Voyager 2    1986
Ophelia          54      16    ?      Voyager 2    1986
Bianca           59      22    ?      Voyager 2    1986
Cressida         62      33    ?      Voyager 2    1986
Desdemona        63      29    ?      Voyager 2    1986
Juliet           64      42    ?      Voyager 2    1986
Portia           66      55    ?      Voyager 2    1986
Rosalind         70      27    ?      Voyager 2    1986
Cupid            75       6    ?      Showalter    2003
Belinda          75      34    ?      Voyager 2    1986
Perdita          76      40    ?      Voyager 2    1986
Puck             86      77    ?      Voyager 2    1985
Mab              98       8    ?      Showalter    2003
Miranda         130     236  6.30e19  Kuiper       1948
Ariel           191     579  1.27e21  Lassell      1851
Umbriel         266     585  1.27e21  Lassell      1851
Titania         436     789  3.49e21  Herschel     1787
Oberon          583     761  3.03e21  Herschel     1787
Francisco      4281       6    ?      Sheppard     2003
Caliban        7169      40    ?      Gladman      1997
Stephano       7948      15    ?      Gladman      1999
Trinculo       8578       5    ?      Holman       2001
Sycorax       12213      80    ?      Nicholson    1997
Margaret      14689       6    ?      Sheppard     2003
Prospero      16568      20    ?      Holman       1999
Setebos       17681      20    ?      Kavelaars    1999
Ferdinand     21000       6    ?      Sheppard     2003

Uranus' Rings

         Distance     Width
Ring       (km)       (km)
-------  --------    -----
Zeta  39,600      3,500 (formally 1986U2R)
6  41,840      1-3
5  42,230      2-3
4  42,580      2-3
Alpha    44,720      7-12
Beta  45,670      7-12
Eta   47,190      0-2
Gamma    47,630      1-4
Delta    48,290      3-9
Lambda   50,024      1-2 (formally 1986 U1R)
Epsilon 51,140       20-100
Nu    67,300      3,800 (formally R/2003 U2)
Mu    97,700      17,000 (formally R/2003 U1)