Desdemona (moon)
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 |
| Eccentricity | 0.00013 ± 0.000070 |
| 0.473649597 ± 0.000000014 d | |
| Inclination | 0.11252 ± 0.037° (to Uranus' equator) |
| Satellite of | Uranus |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 90 × 54 × 54 km |
|
Mean radius
|
32.0 ± 4 km |
| ~14,500 km² | |
| Volume | ~164,000 km³ |
| Mass | ~1.8×1017 kg |
|
Mean density
|
~1.3 g/cm³ (assumed) |
| ~0.011 m/s2 | |
| ~0.027 km/s | |
| synchronous | |
| zero | |
| Albedo |
|
| Temperature | ~64 K |
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. Desdemona is named after the wife of Othello in William Shakespeare's play Othello. It is also designated Uranus X.
Desdemona belongs to Portia Group of satellites, which also includes Bianca, Cressida, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda and Perdita. These satellites have similar orbits and photometric properties. Other than its orbit, radius of 32 km and geometric albedo of 0.08 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. Its surface is grey in color.
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