 |
| While most of the moons orbiting other planets take their names from Greek mythology, Uranus’ moons are unique in being named for Shakespearean characters, along with a couple of them being named for characters from the works of Alexander Pope. |
The Shakespearean Moons of Uranus
This weekend marks
the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, and we’re highlighting the
moons of Uranus; some of which are named after characters from his
works.
NASA | April 2016
Using the Hubble Space Telescope and improved ground-based telescopes, astronomers have discovered a total of 27 known moons around Uranus.
Here’s a sampling of some of the unique aspects of the moons:
Miranda
Shakespearean work: The Tempest
Miranda,
the innermost and smallest of the five major satellites, has a surface
unlike any other moon that’s been seen. It has a giant fault canyon as
much as 12 times as deep as the Grand Canyon, terraced layers and
surfaces that appear very old, and others that look much younger.
Ariel
Shakespearean work: The Tempest
Ariel
has the brightest and possibly the youngest surface among all the moons
of Uranus. It has a few large craters and many small ones, indicating
that fairly recent low-impact collisions wiped out the large craters
that would have been left by much earlier, bigger strikes. Intersecting
valleys pitted with craters scars its surface.
Oberon
Shakespearean work: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Oberon,
the outermost of the five major moons, is old, heavily cratered and
shows little signs of internal activity. Unidentified dark material
appears on the floors of many of its craters.
Cordelia and Ophelia
Shakespearean works: Cordelia - King Lear; Ophelia - Hamlet
Cordelia and Ophelia are shepherd moons that keep Uranus’ thin, outermost “epsilon” ring well defined.
Between
them and miranda is a swarm of eight small satellites unlike any other
system of planetary moons. This region is so crowded that astronomers
don’t yet understand how the little moons have managed to avoid crashing
into each other. They may be shepherds for the planet’s 10 narrow
rings, and scientists think there must be still more moons, interior to
any known, to confine the edges of the inner rings.
Want to learn more about all of Uranus’s moons? Visit: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/uranus/moons
Check out THIS blog from our Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan, where she reflects on the life and legacy of William Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of his death on April 23, 1616.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
No comments:
Post a Comment