Bianca (moon)

See also: Bianca (disambiguation)

Bianca is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on January 23, 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 9.^[9] It was named after the sister of Katherine in Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew. It is also designated Uranus VIII.^[10]

There is also an asteroid called 218 Bianca.

Bianca

Discovery
Discovered by	Bradford A. Smith / Voyager 2
Discovery date	January 23, 1986
Designations
Designation	Uranus VIII
Pronunciation	/biˈæŋkə/[1]
Adjectives	Biancan[2]
Orbital characteristics[3]
Semi-major axis	59165.550±0.045 km
Eccentricity	0.00092 ± 0.000118
Orbital period (sidereal)	0.434578986 ± 0.000000022 d
Inclination	0.19308 ± 0.054° (to Uranus' equator)
Satellite of	Uranus
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	64 × 46 × 46 km[4][note 1]
Surface area	~8400 km2[lower-alpha 1]
Volume	70900±29.9% km3[5]
Mass	(6.38±1.91)×1016 kg[5]
Mean density	≥0.79 g/cm3[5] 0.90 g/cm3 (assumed)[5]
Surface gravity	~0.004–0.008 m/s2[lower-alpha 1]
Escape velocity	~0.016–0.019 km/s[lower-alpha 1]
Synodic rotation period	synchronous[4]
Axial tilt	zero[4]
Albedo	0.08 ± 0.01[6] 0.07[7][8]
Temperature	~64 K[lower-alpha 1]
Only two dimensions are known; the third dimension has been assumed to equal the smaller known dimension.

Bianca belongs to the Portia group of satellites, which also includes Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda, and Perdita.^[6] These satellites have similar orbits and photometric properties.^[6] Other than its orbit,^[3] size of 64 × 46 km,^[4] and geometric albedo of 0.08,^[6] virtually nothing is known about it.

In Voyager 2 images Bianca appears as an elongated object, with its major axis pointing towards Uranus. The ratio of axes of the Bianca's prolate spheroid is 0.7±0.2.^[4] Its surface is grey in color.^[4]

See also

• Moons of Uranus

Notes

1. Calculated on the basis of other parameters.

References

1. Benjamin Smith (1903). The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia.
2. Ruud (2008). Critical companion to Dante: a literary reference to his life and work.
3. Jacobson, R. A. (1998). "The Orbits of the Inner Uranian Satellites From Hubble Space Telescope and Voyager 2 Observations". The Astronomical Journal. 115 (3): 1195–1199. Bibcode:1998AJ....115.1195J. doi:10.1086/300263. S2CID 118616209.
4. Karkoschka, Erich (2001). "Voyager's Eleventh Discovery of a Satellite of Uranus and Photometry and the First Size Measurements of Nine Satellites". Icarus. 151 (1): 69–77. Bibcode:2001Icar..151...69K. doi:10.1006/icar.2001.6597.
5. French, Richard G.; Hedman, Matthew M.; Nicholson, Philip D.; Longaretti, Pierre-Yves; McGhee-French, Colleen A. (2024-03-15). "The Uranus system from occultation observations (1977–2006): Rings, pole direction, gravity field, and masses of Cressida, Cordelia, and Ophelia". Icarus. 411: 115957. arXiv:2401.04634. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2024.115957. ISSN 0019-1035.
6. Karkoschka, Erich (2001). "Comprehensive Photometry of the Rings and 16 Satellites of Uranus with the Hubble Space Telescope". Icarus. 151 (1): 51–68. Bibcode:2001Icar..151...51K. doi:10.1006/icar.2001.6596.
7. "Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters". JPL (Solar System Dynamics). 24 October 2008. Archived from the original on 17 January 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
8. Williams, Dr. David R. (23 November 2007). "Uranian Satellite Fact Sheet". NASA (National Space Science Data Center). Retrieved 12 December 2008.
9. Smith, B. A. (1986-01-27). "Satellites and Rings of Uranus". IAU Circular. 4168. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
10. "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology. July 21, 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2006.

External links

• Bianca Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
• Uranus' Known Satellites (by Scott S. Sheppard)