Sycorax (moon)

For other uses, see Sycorax (disambiguation).
Sycorax
Animation of discovery images taken by the Hale Telescope in September 1997
Discovery[1]
Discovered by
Discovery siteHale Telescope at Palomar Obs.
Discovery date6 September 1997
Designations
Designation
Uranus XVII
Pronunciation/ˈsɪkɒræks/[2][3]
Named after
Sycorax
S/1997 U 2
AdjectivesSycoraxian /sɪkɒˈræksiən/[4]
Orbital characteristics[5]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Observation arc32.37 yr (11,815 d)
Earliest precovery date2 June 1984
12,193,230 km (0.0815067 AU)
Eccentricity0.4841889
3.52 yr (1,286.28 d)
160.58731°
0° 16m 47.56s / day
Inclination153.22796° (to the ecliptic)
159.403° (to local Laplace plane)[6]
258.56478°
16.29680°
Satellite ofUranus
Physical characteristics
157+23
−15 km[7]
165+36
−42 km[8]
Mass~2.5×1018 kg (estimate)[6]
Mean density
~1.3 g/cm3 (assumed)[6]
6.9162±0.0013 hr (double-peaked)[7]
3.6 hr (single-peaked)[9]
Albedo0.065+0.015
−0.011[7]
0.049+0.038
−0.017[8]
Temperature~65 K (mean estimate)
20.8 (V)[10]
7.5±0.04[7]
7.83±0.06[8]

Sycorax /ˈsɪkɒræks/ is the largest irregular satellite of Uranus. It was discovered in September, 1997 on the Hale Telescope in California. Sycorax's orbit is retrograde, irregular, and much more distant than that of Oberon, the furthest of Uranus' regular moons. With a diameter of over 150 kilometres (93 mi), it is the largest irregular moon of Uranus. It has been theorized that Sycorax is a captured object, as opposed to one formed with Uranus.

  1. ^ Gladman Nicholson et al. 1998.
  2. ^ Shakespeare Recording Society (1995) The Tempest (audio CD)
  3. ^ Benjamin Smith (1903) The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  4. ^ Goldberg (2004) Tempest in the Caribbean
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC102109 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference JPL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference FarkasTakacs2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference TNOsCool9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Maris 2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Romon 2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).