Desdemona (moon)

There is also a minor planet called 666 Desdemona.

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]

Desdemona

Discovery image of Desdemona
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]
Semi-major axis	62,658.364 ± 0.047 km
Eccentricity	0.00013 ± 0.000070
Orbital period (sidereal)	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]
Surface area	~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)
Surface gravity	~0.004–0.011 m/s2[a]
Escape velocity	~0.019–0.025 km/s[a]
Synodic rotation period	synchronous[6]
Axial tilt	zero[6]
Albedo	0.08 ± 0.01[8] 0.07[9][10]
Temperature	~64 K[a]
Only two dimensions are known; the third dimension has been assumed to equal the smaller known dimension.

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]

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. Harris; Lazzari (1997), Shakespearean criticism
3. Daileader (2005). Racism, misogyny, and the Othello myth.
4. Genova (1997). Power, gender, values.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. "Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters". JPL (Solar System Dynamics). 24 October 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
10. Williams, Dr. David R. (23 November 2007). "Uranian Satellite Fact Sheet". NASA (National Space Science Data Center). Retrieved 12 December 2008.
11. Smith, B. A. (January 16, 1986). "Satellites of Uranus". IAU Circular. 4164. Archived from the original on 5 November 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
12. "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology. July 21, 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
13. Duncan, Martin J.; Lissauer, Jack J. (1997). "Orbital Stability of the Uranian Satellite System". Icarus. 125 (1): 1–12. Bibcode:1997Icar..125....1D. doi:10.1006/icar.1996.5568.

External links

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