Ophelia (moon)

Ophelia

Discovery
Discovered by	Richard J. Terrile / Voyager 2
Discovery date	January 20, 1986
Orbital characteristics
Mean orbit radius	53,763.390 ± 0.847 km
Eccentricity	0.00992 ± 0.000107
Orbital period	0.37640039 ± 0.00000357 d
Inclination	0.10362 ± 0.055° (to Uranus' equator)
Satellite of	Uranus
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	54 × 38 × 38 km
Mean radius	23 ± 4 km
Surface area	~6600 km²
Volume	~41,000 km³
Mass	~5.1×1016 kg
Mean density	~1.3 g/cm³ assumed
Surface gravity	~0.0070 m/s2
Escape velocity	~0.018 km/s
Rotation period	synchronous
Axial tilt	zero
Albedo	0.08 ± 0.01
Temperature	~64 K

Discovery image of Ophelia

Ophelia is a closer moon of Uranus. It was found from the images taken by Voyager 2 on January 20, 1986, and was given the designation S/1986 U 8. It was not seen until the Hubble Space Telescope saw it in 2003.

Ophelia was named after the daughter of Polonius, Ophelia, in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. It is also designated Uranus VII.

Unfortunately, other than its orbit, radius of 23 km and geometric albedo of 0.08, almost nothing is known about it. At the Voyager 2 images Ophelia appears as a streched object, the major axis pointing towards Uranus.

Other websites

• Ophelia Profile Archived 2007-08-01 at the Wayback Machine by NASA's Solar System Exploration