Prospero (moon)

Prospero

Discovery image of Prospero.
Discovery
Discovered by	John J. Kavelaars Brett J. Gladman Matthew J. Holman Jean-Marc Petit Hans Scholl
Discovery date	18 July 1999
Designations
Adjectives	Prosperonian, Prosperian
Orbital characteristics
Mean orbit radius	16,256,000 km[1][2]
Eccentricity	0.4448[2]
Orbital period	1978.29 d
Inclination	152°[1] (to the ecliptic)[1]
Satellite of	Uranus
Physical characteristics
Mean radius	25 km (estimate)[3]
Surface area	~8000 km² (estimate)
Volume	~65,000 km³ (estimate)
Mass	~8.5×10^16 kg (estimate)
Mean density	~1.3 g/cm³ (assumed)
Escape velocity	~0.021 km/s (estimate)
Rotation period	?
Axial tilt	?
Albedo	0.04 (assumed)[3]
Temperature	~65 K (estimate)

Prospero (/ˈprɒspəroʊ/ PROS-pər-oh) is a relatively small retrograde irregular satellite of Uranus discovered on 18 July 1999 by the astrophysicist Matthew Holman and his team, and given the provisional designation S/1999 U 3. Confirmed as Uranus XVIII it was named after the sorcerer Prospero in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

The orbital parameters suggest that it may belong to the same dynamic cluster as Sycorax and Setebos, suggesting common origin.^[4] However, this suggestion does not appear to be supported by the observed colours. The satellite appears neutral (grey) in visible light (colour indices B-V=0.80, R-V=0.39),^[5] similar to Setebos but different from Sycorax (which is light red).

See also

• Uranus' natural satellites
• Irregular satellites

References

1. Sheppard, Jewitt & Kleyna 2005, p. 523, Table 3.
2. Yeomans, Donald K. (28 June 2007). "Planetary Satellite Mean Orbital Parameters". JPL/NASA. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
3. Sheppard, Jewitt & Kleyna 2005, p. 523, Table 3 ... rⁱ (km) ... 25 ... ⁱ Radius of satellite assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04.
4. Grav, Tommy; Holman, Matthew J.; Gladman, Brett J.; Aksnes, Kaare Photometric survey of the irregular satellites, Icarus, 166, (2003), pp. 33–45. arXiv:astro-ph/0301016
5. Grav, Holman & Fraser 2004.

• Grav, Tommy; Holman, Matthew J.; Fraser, Wesley C. (2004-09-20). "Photometry of Irregular Satellites of Uranus and Neptune". The Astrophysical Journal. 613 (1): L77–L80. arXiv:astro-ph/0405605. Bibcode:2004ApJ...613L..77G. doi:10.1086/424997.
• Sheppard, S. S.; Jewitt, D.; Kleyna, J. (2005). "An Ultradeep Survey for Irregular Satellites of Uranus: Limits to Completeness". The Astronomical Journal. 129: 518. doi:10.1086/426329.

External links

• Prospero Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
• David Jewitt pages
• Uranus' Known Satellites (by Scott S. Sheppard)
• MPC: Natural Satellites Ephemeris Service