Belinda (moon)

Belinda

Discovery
Discovered by	Stephen P. Synnott / Voyager 2
Discovery date	January 13, 1986
Orbital characteristics
Mean orbit radius	75,255.613 ± 0.057 km[1]
Eccentricity	0.00007 ± 0.000073[1]
Orbital period	0.623527470 ± 0.000000017 d[1]
Inclination	0.03063 ± 0.028° (to Uranus' equator)[1]
Satellite of	Uranus
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	128 × 64 × 64 km[2]
Mean radius	45 ± 8 km[2]
Surface area	~25,000 km²[3]
Volume	~380,000 km³[3]
Mass	~4.9×1017 kg[3]
Mean density	~1.3 g/cm³ assumed
Surface gravity	~0.014 m/s2[3]
Escape velocity	~0.034 km/s[3]
Rotation period	synchronous[2]
Axial tilt	zero[2]
Albedo	0.08 ± 0.01[4]
Temperature	~64 K[3]

Belinda is a closer moon to Uranus, a planet in the solar system. Belinda was found from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 1986,^[5] and it was given the designation S/1986 U 5.^[6] It is named after the heroine of Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock.^[5] It is also designated Uranus XIV.^[7]

Belinda belongs to Portia Group of moons, which also includes Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Portia, Juliet, Cupid, Rosalind and Perdita.^[4] These moons have similar orbits and photometric properties.^[4] Other than its orbit,^[1] radius of 45 km^[2] and geometric albedo of 0.08^[4] almost nothing is known about it.

At the Voyager 2 images Belinda appears as a stretched object, the major axis pointing towards Uranus. The moon is very stretched, with its short axis 0.5 ± 0.1 times the long axis.^[2] Its surface is grey in color.^[2]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Jacobson, R.A. (1998). "The Orbits of the Inner Uranian Satellites From Hubble Space Telescope and Voyager2 Observations". The Astronomical Journal. 115 (3): 1195–1199. Bibcode:1998AJ....115.1195J. doi:10.1086/300263. S2CID 118616209.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6} 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.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5} Calculated on the basis of other parameters
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} 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.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "Uranus's Moons". Sea and Sky. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
6. ↑ Smith, B. A. (January 16, 1986). "IAU Circular No. 4164". Retrieved 2006-08-06.
7. ↑ "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology. July 21, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-06.