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Moon of Uranus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Desdemona is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 13 January 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 6.[11] Desdemona is named after the wife of Othello in William Shakespeare's play Othello. It is also designated Uranus X.[12]
Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Stephen P. Synnott / Voyager 2 |
Discovery date | January 13, 1986 |
Designations | |
Designation | Uranus X |
Pronunciation | /dɛzdəˈmoʊnə/[1] |
Adjectives | Desdemonan,[2] Desdemonian,[3] Desdemonean[4] /dɛzdəˈmoʊn(i)ən/ |
Orbital characteristics[5] | |
62,658.364 ± 0.047 km | |
Eccentricity | 0.00013 ± 0.000070 |
0.473649597 ± 0.000000014 d | |
Inclination | 0.11252 ± 0.037° (to Uranus' equator) |
Satellite of | Uranus |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 90 × 54 × 54 km[6][note 1] |
~13,000 km2[a] | |
Volume | 137400±37.5% km3[7] |
Mass | (1.237±0.436)×1017 kg[7] |
Mean density | ≥0.66 g/cm3[7] ~0.90 g/cm3 (assumed) |
~0.004–0.011 m/s2[a] | |
~0.019–0.025 km/s[a] | |
synchronous[6] | |
zero[6] | |
Albedo | 0.08 ± 0.01[8] 0.07[9][10] |
Temperature | ~64 K[a] |
|
Desdemona belongs to Portia Group of satellites, which also includes Bianca, Cressida, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda, and Perdita.[8] These satellites have similar orbits and photometric properties.[8] Other than its orbit,[5] size of 90 × 54 km,[6] and geometric albedo of 0.08,[8] virtually nothing is known about Desdemona.
In Voyager 2 imagery, Desdemona appears as an elongated object, with its major axis pointing towards Uranus. The ratio of axes of Desdemona's prolate spheroid is 0.6 ± 0.3.[6] Its surface is grey in color.[6]
Desdemona may collide with one of its neighboring moons Cressida or Juliet within the next 100 million years.[13]
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