Prospero (moon)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Discovery image of Prospero.
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Discovery
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| Discovered by | |
| Discovery date | July 18, 1999 |
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Designations
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| Adjective | Prosperonian, Prosperian |
| Mean orbit radius | 16,256,000 km[1][2] |
| Eccentricity | 0.4448[2] |
| Orbital period | 1978.29 d |
| Inclination | 152°[1] (to the ecliptic)[3] |
| Satellite of | Uranus |
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Physical characteristics
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| Mean radius | 25 km (estimate)[3] |
| Surface area | ~8000 km² (estimate) |
| Volume | ~65,000 km³ (estimate) |
| Mass | ~8.5×1016 kg (estimate) |
| Mean density | ~1.3 g/cm³ (assumed) |
| Escape velocity | ~0.021 km/s (estimate) |
| Rotation period | ? |
| Axial tilt | ? |
| Albedo | 0.04 (assumed)[3] |
| Temperature | ~65 K (estimate) |
Prospero (
/ˈprɒspəroʊ/ PROS-pər-oh) 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.[4] 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),[5] similar to Setebos but different from Sycorax (which is light red).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Sheppard 2005, p. 523
- ^ a b Donald K. Yeomans (2007-06-28). "Planetary Satellite Mean Orbital Parameters". JPL/NASA. http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?sat_elem#uranus. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
- ^ a b c Sheppard, Scott S.; David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna (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. "Table 3 ... ri (km) ... 25 ... i Radius of satellite assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04."
- ^ 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, Tommy; Holman, Matthew J.; Fraser, Wesley C. (2004-09-20). "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.
[edit] 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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