Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The two innermost moons, Cordelia and Ophelia, are shepherds of Uranus's ε ring, whereas the small moon Mab is a source of Uranus's outermost μ ring. [12] There may be two additional small (2–7 km in radius) undiscovered shepherd moons located about 100 km exterior to Uranus's α and β rings .
This is a list of the recognized moons of the planets and of the largest potential dwarf planets of the Solar System, ordered by their official Roman numeral designations. Moons that do not yet have official Roman numeral designations (because their orbits are not yet known well enough) are listed after those that do.
Uranus's 28 natural satellites include 18 known regular moons, of which 13 are small inner moons. Further out are the larger five major moons of the planet: Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. Orbiting at a much greater distance from Uranus are the ten known irregular moons.
The exploration of Uranus has, to date, been through telescopes and a lone probe by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which made its closest approach to Uranus on January 24, 1986. Voyager 2 discovered 10 moons , studied the planet's cold atmosphere , and examined its ring system , discovering two new rings.
These lists contain the Sun, the planets, dwarf planets, many of the larger small Solar System bodies (which includes the asteroids), all named natural satellites, and a number of smaller objects of historical or scientific interest, such as comets and near-Earth objects.
Montage of planets and some moons that the two Voyager spacecraft have visited and studied. It is the only program that visited all four outer planets. A total of nine spacecraft have been launched on missions that involve visits to the outer planets; all nine missions involve encounters with Jupiter, with four spacecraft also visiting Saturn.
Of the inner planets, Mercury and Venus have no natural satellites; Earth has one large natural satellite, known as the Moon; and Mars has two tiny natural satellites, Phobos and Deimos. The giant planets have extensive systems of natural satellites, including half a dozen comparable in size to Earth's Moon: the four Galilean moons , Saturn's ...
Francisco is the innermost irregular satellite of Uranus. Francisco was discovered by Matthew J. Holman, et al. and Brett J. Gladman, et al. in 2003 from pictures taken in 2001 and given the provisional designation S/2001 U 3. Confirmed as Uranus XXII, it was named after a lord in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. [8]