Ophelia (moon)

Ophelia
Ophelia (image taken 21 January 1986)
Discovery[1]
Discovered byRichard J. Terrile / Voyager 2
Discovery dateJanuary 20, 1986
Designations
Designation
Uranus VII
Pronunciation/oʊˈfiːliə/[2]
AdjectivesOphelian /ɒˈfiːliən/[3]
Orbital characteristics[4]
53763.390±0.847 km
Eccentricity0.00992±0.000107
0.37640039±0.00000357 d
10.39 km/s[a]
Inclination0.10362°±0.055° (to Uranus' equator)[4]
Satellite ofUranus
Groupring shepherd
Physical characteristics
Dimensions54 × 38 × 38 km[5][note 1]
~5900 km2[a]
Volume40800±50.4% km3[6]
Mass(3.57±0.32)×1016 kg[6]
Mean density
0.87+0.89
−0.30 g/cm3[6]
~0.003–0.007 m/s2[a]
~0.013–0.016 km/s[a]
synchronous[5]
zero[5]
Albedo0.065±0.01[7]
0.07[8]
Temperature~65 K[a]
  1. ^ Only two dimensions are known; the third dimension has been assumed to equal the smaller known dimension.

Ophelia is a moon of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on January 20, 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 8.[1] It was not seen again until the Hubble Space Telescope recovered it in 2003.[7][9] Ophelia was named after the daughter of Polonius, Ophelia, in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. It is also designated Uranus VII.[10]

Other than its orbit,[4] size of 54 × 38 km,[5] and geometric albedo of 0.065,[7] virtually nothing is known about it. In Voyager 2, images Ophelia appears as an elongated object, with its major axis pointing towards Uranus. The ratio of axes of the Ophelia's prolate spheroid is 0.7 ± 0.3.[5]

Ophelia acts as the outer shepherd satellite for Uranus's ε ring.[11] The orbit of Ophelia is within the synchronous orbit radius of Uranus, and is therefore slowly decaying due to tidal forces.[5]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference IAUC 4168 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Benjamin Smith (1903). The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia.
  3. ^ "Ophelian". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Jacobson 1998 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference Karkoschka, Voyager 2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference FrenchEtAl2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Karkoschka, Hubble 2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Williams 2007 nssdc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference IAUC 8194 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gazetteer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Esposito 2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).