Oberon (moon)
Oberon is the farthest big moon of the planet Uranus. It is made of about half ice and half rock.[1] With a mean radius of about 760 km, Oberon is the second biggest moon of Uranus's 27 moons. It orbits Uranus about every 13.4 days.[2]
It was found on January 11, 1787 by William Herschel,[3] in the same year he found Titania. It was named after a Oberon, King of the Fairies, a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Oberon has several large impact craters where it has been hit by meteorites. These were photographed by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986 as it flew passed.[2] Scientists also believe there is a mountain that could be 20 km (12 mi) high on the moon.[4]
Surface features
[change | change source]Craters on Oberon are named after characters in the plays of William Shakespeare.[5]
Feature | Named after | Type | Length (diameter), km | Coordinates |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mommur Chasma | Mommur, from French folklore | Chasma | 537 | 16°18′S 323°30′E / 16.3°S 323.5°E |
Antony | Mark Antony | Crater | 47 | 27°30′S 65°24′E / 27.5°S 65.4°E |
Caesar | Julius Caesar | 76 | 26°36′S 61°06′E / 26.6°S 61.1°E | |
Coriolanus | Coriolanus | 120 | 11°24′S 345°12′E / 11.4°S 345.2°E | |
Falstaff | Falstaff | 124 | 22°06′S 19°00′E / 22.1°S 19.0°E | |
Hamlet | Hamlet | 206 | 46°06′S 44°24′E / 46.1°S 44.4°E | |
Lear | King Lear | 126 | 5°24′S 31°30′E / 5.4°S 31.5°E | |
MacBeth | Macbeth | 203 | 58°24′S 112°30′E / 58.4°S 112.5°E | |
Othello | Othello | 114 | 66°00′S 42°54′E / 66.0°S 42.9°E | |
Romeo | Romeo | 159 | 28°42′S 89°24′E / 28.7°S 89.4°E |
Other websites
[change | change source]References
[change | change source]- ↑ "APOD: April 8, 1996 - Uranus's Moon Oberon: Impact World". apod.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hamilton, Calvin. "Oberon, A Moon Of Uranus". www.solarviews.com. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
- ↑ "Solar System Exploration: Planets: Comparison Chart". solarsystem.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 2009-04-23. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
- ↑ "Uranus' Moon Oberon - Explore the Cosmos". The Planetary Society. Archived from the original on 2009-08-31. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
- ↑ Strobell, M. E.; Masursky, H. (March 1987). "New Features Named on the Moon and Uranian Satellites". Abstracts of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. 18: 964–965. Bibcode:1987LPI....18..964S.
- ↑ "Oberon Nomenclature Table Of Contents". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology. Retrieved 2010-08-30.