# Umbriel (moon)

Umbriel
Umbriel as seen by Voyager 2 in 1986
Discovery
Discovered by William Lassell
Discovery date October 24, 1851
Designations
Pronunciation /ˈʌmbriəl/[note 1]
Uranus II
Orbital characteristics[2]
266 000 km
Eccentricity 0.0039
4.144 d
Inclination 0.128° (to Uranus's equator)
Satellite of Uranus
Physical characteristics
584.7 ± 2.8 km (0.092 Earths)[3]
4 296 000 km² (0.008 Earths)[note 2]
Volume 837 300 000 km³ (0.0008 Earths)[note 3]
Mass 1.172 ± 0.135 kg (2 Earths)[4]
Mean density
1.39 ± 0.16 g/cm³[4]
0.23 m/s² (~0.023 g)[note 4]
0.52 km/s[note 5]
presumed synchronous[5]
0[5]
Albedo 0.26 (geometrical),
0.10 (Bond)[6]
Surface temp. min mean max
solstice[7] ? ~75 K 85 K
14.5 (V-band, opposition)[8]
Atmosphere
Surface pressure
zero

Umbriel (pronounced /ˈʌmbriəl/ (deprecated template))[note 1] is a moon of Uranus discovered on October 24, 1851, by William Lassell. It was discovered at the same time as Ariel and named after a character in Alexander Pope's poem The Rape of the Lock. Umbriel consists mainly of ice with a substantial fraction of rock, and may be differentiated into a rocky core and an icy mantle. The surface is the darkest among Uranian moons, and appears to have been shaped primarily by impacts. However, the presence of canyons suggests early endogenic processes, and the moon may have undergone an early endogenically driven resurfacing event that obliterated its older surface.

Covered by numerous impact craters reaching 210 km (130 mi) in diameter, Umbriel is the second most heavily cratered satellite of Uranus after Oberon. The most prominent surface feature is a ring of bright material on the floor of Wunda crater. This moon, like all moons of Uranus, probably formed from an accretion disk that surrounded the planet just after its formation. The Uranian system has been studied up close only once: by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in January 1986. It took several images of Umbriel, which allowed mapping of about 40% of the moon’s surface.

## Discovery and name

Umbriel, along with another Uranian satellite Ariel, was discovered by William Lassell on October 24, 1851.[9][10] Although William Herschel, the discoverer of Titania and Oberon, claimed at the end of the 18th century that he had observed four additional moons of Uranus,[11] his observations were not confirmed and those four objects are now thought to be spurious.[12]

All Uranus's moons are named after characters created by William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope. The names of all four satellites of Uranus then known were suggested by John Herschel in 1852 at the request of Lassell.[13] Umbriel is the 'dusky melancholy sprite' in Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock,[14] and the name suggests the Latin umbra, meaning shadow. The moon is also designated Uranus II.[10]

## Orbit

Umbriel orbits Uranus at the distance of about 266,000 km (165,000 mi), being the third farthest from the planet among its five major moons.[note 6] Umbriel's orbit has a small eccentricity and is inclined very little relative to the equator of Uranus.[2] Its orbital period is around 4.1 Earth days, coincident with its rotational period. In other words, Umbriel is a synchronous or tidally locked satellite, with one face always pointing toward the planet.[5] Umbriel's orbit lies completely inside the Uranian magnetosphere.[7] This is important, because the trailing hemispheres of airless satellites orbiting inside a magnetosphere (like Umbriel ) are struck by magnetospheric plasma, which co-rotates with the planet.[15] This bombardment may lead to the darkening of the trailing hemispheres, which is actually observed for all Uranian moons except Oberon (see below).[7] Umbriel also serves as a sink of the magnetospheric charged particles, which creates a pronounced dip in energetic particle count near the moon's orbit as observed by Voyager 2 in 1986.[16]

Because Uranus orbits the Sun almost on its side, and its moons orbit in the planet's equatorial plane, they (including Umbriel) are subject to an extreme seasonal cycle. Both northern and southern poles spend 42 years in a complete darkness, and another 42 years in continuous sunlight, with the sun rising close to the zenith over one of the poles at each solstice.[7] The Voyager 2 flyby coincided with the southern hemisphere's 1986 summer solstice, when nearly the entire northern hemisphere was unilluminated. Once every 42 years, when Uranus has an equinox and its equatorial plane intersects the Earth, mutual occultations of Uranus's moons become possible. In 2007–2008 a number of such events was observed including two occultations of Titania by Umbriel on August 15 and December 8, 2007 as well as of Ariel by Umbriel on August 19, 2007.[17]

Currently Umbriel is not involved in any orbital resonance with other Uranian satellites. In the past, however, it may have been in the 3:1 resonance with Miranda, which was partially responsible for the heating of that moon.[18]

## Composition and internal structure

Umbriel is the third largest and fourth most massive of Uranian moons.[note 7] The moon's density is 1.39 g/cm3,[4] which indicates that it mainly consists of water ice, while a dense non-ice component constitutes around 40% of its mass.[20] The latter could be made of rock and carbonaceous material including heavy organic compounds known as tholins.[5] The presence of water ice is supported by infrared spectroscopic observations, which have revealed crystalline water ice on the surface of the moon.[7] Water ice absorption bands are stronger on Umbriel's leading hemisphere than on the trailing hemisphere.[7] The cause of this asymmetry is not known, but it may be related to the bombardment by charged particles from the magnetosphere of Uranus, which is stronger on the trailing hemisphere (due to the plasma's co-rotation).[7] The energetic particles tend to sputter water ice, decompose methane trapped in ice as clathrate hydrate and darken other organics, leaving a dark, carbon-rich residue behind.[7]

Except for water, the only other compound identified on the surface of Umbriel by the infrared spectroscopy is carbon dioxide, which is concentrated mainly on the trailing hemisphere.[7] The origin of the carbon dioxide is not completely clear. It might be produced locally from carbonates or organic materials under the influence of the energetic charged particles coming from the magnetosphere of Uranus or the solar ultraviolet radiation. This hypothesis would explain the asymmetry in its distribution, as the trailing hemisphere is subject to a more intense magnetospheric influence than the leading hemisphere. Another possible source is the outgassing of the primordial CO2 trapped by water ice in Umbriel's interior. The escape of CO2 from the interior may be related to the past geological activity on this moon.[7]

Umbriel may be differentiated into a rocky core surrounded by an icy mantle.[20] If this is the case, the radius of the core (317 km) is about 54% of the radius of the moon, and its mass is around 40% of the moon’s mass—the parameters are dictated by the moon's composition. The pressure in the center of Umbriel is about 0.24 GPa (2.4 kbar).[20] The current state of the icy mantle is unclear, although the existence of a subsurface ocean is considered unlikely.[20]

## Surface features

The map of Umbriel showing polygons

Umbriel's surface is the darkest of the Uranian moons, and reflects less than half as much light as Ariel, a sister satellite of similar size.[19] Umbriel has a very low Bond albedo of only about 10% as compared to 23% for Ariel.[6] The reflectivity of the moon's surface decreases from 26% at a phase angle of 0° (geometrical albedo) to 19% at an angle of about 1°. This phenomenon is called opposition surge. Opposite to what is observed for another dark Uranian moon, Oberon, the surface of Umbriel is slightly blue in color,[21] while fresh bright impact deposits (in Wunda crater, for instance)[22] are even bluer. There may be an asymmetry between the leading and trailing hemispheres; the former appears to be redder than the latter.[23] The reddening of the surfaces probably results from space weathering from bombardment by charged particles and micrometeorites over the age of the Solar System.[21] However, the color asymmetry of Umbriel is likely caused by accretion of a reddish material coming from outer parts of the Uranian system, possibly, from irregular satellites, which would occur predominately on the leading hemisphere.[23] The surface of Umbriel is relatively homogeneous—it does not demonstrate strong variation in either albedo or color.[21]

Scientists have so far recognized only one class of geological feature on Umbriel—craters.[24] The surface of Umbriel has far more and larger craters than do Ariel and Titania and is also the least geologically active.[22] In fact only Oberon has more impact craters than Umbriel. The observed crater diameters range from a few kilometers at the low end to 210 kilometers for the largest known crater, Wokolo.[22][24] All recognized craters on Umbriel have central peaks,[22] but no crater has rays.[5]

Named craters on Umbriel[24] [24] (Surface features on Umbriel are named for evil or dark spirits taken from various mythologies)[25]
Crater Named after Coordinate Diameter (km)
Alberich Alberich (Norse) 33°36′S 42°12′E﻿ / ﻿33.6°S 42.2°E 52.0
Fin Fin (Danish) 37°24′S 44°18′E﻿ / ﻿37.4°S 44.3°E 43.0
Gob Gob (Pagan) 12°42′S 27°48′E﻿ / ﻿12.7°S 27.8°E 88.0
Kanaloa Kanaloa (Polynesian) 10°48′S 345°42′E﻿ / ﻿10.8°S 345.7°E 86.0
Malingee Malingee(Australian Aboriginal mythology) 22°54′S 13°54′E﻿ / ﻿22.9°S 13.9°E 164.0
Minepa Minepa (Makua people of Mozambique) 42°42′S 8°12′E﻿ / ﻿42.7°S 8.2°E 58.0
Peri Peri (Persian) 9°12′S 4°18′E﻿ / ﻿9.2°S 4.3°E 61.0
Setibos Setibos (Patagonian) 30°48′S 346°18′E﻿ / ﻿30.8°S 346.3°E 50.0
Skynd Skynd (Danish) 1°48′S 331°42′E﻿ / ﻿1.8°S 331.7°E 72.0
Vuver Vuver (Finnish) 4°42′S 311°36′E﻿ / ﻿4.7°S 311.6°E 98.0
Wokolo Wokolo (Bambara people of West Africa) 30°00′S 1°48′E﻿ / ﻿30°S 1.8°E 208.0
Wunda Wunda (Australian Aboriginal mythology) 7°54′S 273°36′E﻿ / ﻿7.9°S 273.6°E 131.0
Zlyden Zlyden (Slavic) 23°18′S 326°12′E﻿ / ﻿23.3°S 326.2°E 44.0

Near Umbriel's equator lies the most prominent surface feature: Wunda crater, which has a diameter of about 131 km.[26][27] Wunda has a large ring of bright material on its floor, which appears to be an impact deposit.[22] Nearby, seen along the terminator, are the craters Vuver and Skynd, which lack bright rims but possess bright central peaks.[5][27] Study of limb profiles of Umbriel revealed a possible very large impact feature having the diameter of about 400 km and depth of approximately 5 km.[28]

Much like other moons of Uranus, the surface of Umbriel is cut by a system of canyons trending northeast–southwest.[29] They are not, however, officially recognized due to the poor resolution of images and generally bland appearance of this moon, which hinders geological mapping.[22]

Umbriel's heavily cratered surface has probably been stable since the Late Heavy Bombardment.[22] The only signs of the ancient internal activity are canyons and dark polygons—dark patches with complex shapes measuring from tens to hundreds kilometers across.[30] The polygons were identified from the precise photometry of Voyager's images and are distributed more or less uniformly on the surface of Umbriel trending northeast–southwest. Some polygons correspond to depressions of a few kilometers deep and may have been created during an early episode of tectonic activity.[30] Currently there is no explanation of why Umbriel is so dark and uniform in appearance. Its surface may be covered by a relatively thin layer of dark material (so called umbral material) excavated by an impact or expelled in an explosive volcanic eruption.[note 8][23] Alternatively, Umbriel's crust may be entirely composed of the dark material, which prevented formation of bright features like crater rays. However, the presence of the bright Wunda feature seems to contradict this hypothesis.[5]

## Origin and evolution

Umbriel is thought to have formed from an accretion disc or subnebula; a disc of gas and dust that either existed around Uranus for some time after its formation or was created by the giant impact that most likely gave Uranus its large obliquity.[31] The precise composition of the subnebula is not known; however, the higher density of Uranian moons compared to the moons of Saturn indicates that it may have been relatively water-poor.[note 9][5] Significant amounts of nitrogen and carbon may have been present in the form of carbon monoxide (CO) and molecular nitrogen (N2) instead of ammonia and methane.[31] The moons that formed in such a subnebula would contain less water ice (with CO and N2 trapped as clathrate) and more rock, explaining the higher density.[5]

Umbriel's accretion probably lasted for several thousand years.[31] The impacts that accompanied accretion caused heating of the moon's outer layer.[32] The maximum temperature of around 180 K was reached at the depth of about 3 km.[32] After the end of formation, the subsurface layer cooled, while the interior of Umbriel heated due to decay of radioactive elements present in its rocks.[5] The cooling near-surface layer contracted, while the interior expanded. This caused strong extensional stresses in the moon's crust, which may have led to cracking.[33] This process probably lasted for about 200 million years, implying that any endogenous activity ceased billions years ago.[5]

The initial accretional heating together with continued decay of radioactive elements may have led to melting of the ice[32] if an antifreeze like ammonia (in the form of ammonia hydrate) or some salt was present.[20] The melting may have led to the separation of ice from rocks and formation of a rocky core surrounded by an icy mantle.[22] A layer of liquid water (ocean) rich in dissolved ammonia may have formed at the core–mantle boundary. The eutectic temperature of this mixture is 176 K. The ocean, however, is likely to have frozen long ago.[20] Among Uranian moons Umbriel was least subjected to endogenic resurfacing processes,[22] although it may like other Uranian moons have experienced a very early resurfacing event.[30]

## Exploration

So far the only close-up images of Umbriel have been from the Voyager 2 probe, which photographed the moon during its flyby of Uranus in January 1986. Since the closest distance between Voyager 2 and Umbriel was 325,000 km (202,000 mi),[34] the best images of this moon have a spatial resolution of about 5.2 km.[22] The images cover about 40% of the surface, but only 20% was photographed with the quality required for geological mapping.[22] At the time of the flyby the southern hemisphere of Umbriel (like those of the other moons) was pointed towards the Sun, so the northern (dark) hemisphere could not be studied.[5] No other spacecraft has ever visited Uranus (and Umbriel), and no mission to Uranus and its moons is planned.

## Notes

1. ^ a b In US dictionary transcription, Template:USdict.[1]
2. ^ Surface area derived from the radius r : ${\displaystyle 4\pi r^{2}}$.
3. ^ Volume v derived from the radius r : ${\displaystyle 4\pi r^{3}/3}$.
4. ^ Surface gravity derived from the mass m, the gravitational constant G and the radius r : ${\displaystyle Gm/r^{2}}$.
5. ^ Escape velocity derived from the mass m, the gravitational constant G and the radius r : 2Gm/r.
6. ^ The five major moons are Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon.
7. ^ Due to the current observational error, it is not yet known for certain whether Ariel is more massive than Umbriel.[19]
8. ^ While a co-orbiting population of dust particles is another possible source of the dark material, this is considered less likely because other satellites were not affected.[5]
9. ^ For instance, Tethys, a Saturnian moon, has the density of 0.97 g/cm3, which means that it contains more than 90% of water.[7]

## References

1. ^ "Umbriel". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
2. ^ a b "Planetary Satellite Mean Orbital Parameters". Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology.
3. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1016/0019-1035(88)90054-1, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1016/0019-1035(88)90054-1 instead.
4. ^ a b c Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1086/116211, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1086/116211 instead.
5. Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1126/science.233.4759.43, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1126/science.233.4759.43 instead.
6. ^ a b Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1006/icar.2001.6596, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1006/icar.2001.6596 instead.
7. Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.04.016, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2006.04.016 instead.
8. ^ "Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters". NASA/JPL. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
9. ^ Lassell, W. (1851). "On the interior satellites of Uranus". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 12: 15–17.
10. ^ a b Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1086/100198, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1086/100198 instead.
11. ^ Herschel, William (1798). "On the Discovery of Four Additional Satellites of the Georgium Sidus; The Retrograde Motion of Its Old Satellites Announced; And the Cause of Their Disappearance at Certain Distances from the Planet Explained". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. 88: 47–79. doi:10.1098/rstl.1798.0005.
12. ^ Struve, O. (1848). "Note on the Satellites of Uranus". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 8 (3): 44–47.
13. ^ Lassell, W. (1852). "Beobachtungen der Uranus-Satelliten". Astronomische Nachrichten (in German). 34: 325. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
14. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1086/126146, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1086/126146 instead.
15. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1126/science.233.4759.85, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1126/science.233.4759.85 instead.
16. ^ Krimigis, S.M. (1986). "The Magnetosphere of Uranus: Hot Plasma and radiation Environment". Science. 233 (4759): 97–102. doi:10.1126/science.233.4759.97. PMID 17812897. Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
17. ^
18. ^ Tittemore, W. C. (1990). "Tidal evolution of the Uranian satellites III. Evolution through the Miranda-Umbriel 3:1, Miranda-Ariel 5:3, and Ariel-Umbriel 2:1 mean-motion commensurabilities". Icarus. 85 (2): 394–443. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(90)90125-S. Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
19. ^ a b "Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters". Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Solar System Dynamics). Retrieved 2009-05-28.
20. Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.06.005, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2006.06.005 instead.
21. ^ a b c Bell III, J.F. (1991). A search for spectral units on the Uranian satellites using color ratio images (Conference Proceedings). Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 21st, Mar. 12-16, 1990. Houston, TX, United States: Lunar and Planetary Sciences Institute. pp. 473–489. Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
22. Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1029/JA092iA13p14918, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1029/JA092iA13p14918 instead.
23. ^ a b c Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1016/0019-1035(91)90064-Z, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1016/0019-1035(91)90064-Z instead.
24. ^ a b c d "Umbriel Nomenclature Table Of Contents". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. United States Geological Survey, Astrogeology. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
25. ^ Strobell, M.E. (1987). "New Features Named on the Moon and Uranian Satellites". Abstracts of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. 18: 964–65. Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
26. ^ "Umbriel:Wunda". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. United States Geological Survey, Astrogeology. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
27. ^ a b Hunt, Garry E. (1989). Atlas of Uranus. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521343237. Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
28. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.05.009, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2004.05.009 instead.
29. ^ Croft, S.K. (1989). New geological maps of Uranian satellites Titania, Oberon, Umbriel and Miranda. Proceeding of Lunar and Planetary Sciences. 20. Lunar and Planetary Sciences Institute, Houston. p. 205C.
30. ^ a b c Helfenstein, P. (1989). "Evidence from Voyager II photometry for early resurfacing of Umbriel". Nature. 338: 324–326. doi:10.1038/338324a0. Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
31. ^ a b c Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20031515, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20031515 instead.
32. ^ a b c Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1029/JB093iB08p08779, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1029/JB093iB08p08779 instead.
33. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1029/91JE01401, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1029/91JE01401 instead.
34. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1029/JA092iA13p14873, please use {{cite journal}} with |doi=10.1029/JA092iA13p14873 instead.