Uranus has twenty or so moons. The first two were discoverd by Herschel in 1787, and named, by his son, after characters from Shakespeare's A midsummer night's dream, as Titania and Oberon. Two more moons discovered by [William Lassell]? in 1851 were named Ariel and Umbriel; G. Kuiper discovered the moon Miranda in 1948. All moons of Uranus are named after characters from Shakespeare or [Alexander Pope]?.
The flyby of the [Voyager 2]? space probe in January of 1986 led to the discovery of another 10 moons. Six additional moons have been discovered by telescope since the Voyager flyby. Uranus has a faint ring system.
The reason for Uranus' extreme axial tilt, almost ninety degrees, is not known.
Moons (in order of distance from Uranus):
Name | Orbital radius (km) | Diameter (km) | Mass (kg) |
---|---|---|---|
Cordelia? | 49,752 | 26 | Unknown |
Ophelia? | 53,764 | 32 | Unknown |
Bianca? | 59,165 | 44 | Unknown |
Cressida? | 61,767 | 66 | Unknown |
Desdemona? | 62,659 | 58 | Unknown |
Juliet? | 64,358 | 84 | Unknown |
Portia | 66,097 | 110 | Unknown |
Rosalind? | 69,927 | 54 | Unknown |
Belinda? | 75,255 | 68 | Unknown |
1986U10* | ~75,000 | ~40 | Unknown |
Puck | 86,006 | 154 | Unknown |
Miranda | 129,850 | 472 | 6.3×1019 |
Ariel | 190,930 | 1158 | 1.27×1021 |
Umbriel | 265,980 | 1170 | 1.27×1021 |
Titania | 436,270 | 1578 | 3.49×1021 |
Oberon | 583,420 | 1523 | 3.03×1021 |
Caliban? | ~7,200,000 | ~80 | Unknown |
Stephano? | ~10,000,000- 25,000,000 | ~30-40 | Unknown |
Sycorax | ~12,200,000 | ~160 | Unknown |
Prospero? | ~10,000,000- 25,000,000 | ~30-40 | Unknown |
Setebos? | ~10,000,000- 25,000,000 | ~30-40 | Unknown |
*Awaiting confirmation and naming
Solar system:
Sun - Mercury - Venus - Earth - Mars - Asteroids - Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus - Neptune - Pluto - Comets