Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Stephen P. Synnott / Voyager 2 |
Discovery date | January 13, 1986 |
Orbital characteristics | |
Mean orbit radius | 62,658.364 ± 0.047 km[1] |
Eccentricity | 0.00013 ± 0.000070[1] |
0.473649597 ± 0.000000014 d[1] | |
Inclination | 0.11252 ± 0.037° (to Uranus' equator)[1] |
Satellite of | Uranus |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 90 × 54 × 54 km[2] |
Mean radius | 34 ± 4 km[2] |
~14,500 km²[3] | |
Volume | ~164,000 km³[3] |
Mass | ~2.3×1017 kg[3] |
Mean density | ~1.3 g/cm³ assumed |
~0.011 m/s2[3] | |
~0.027 km/s[3] | |
synchronous[2] | |
zero[2] | |
Albedo | 0.08 ± 0.01[4] |
Temperature | ~64 K[3] |
Desdemona is a closer moon to Uranus. It was found from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 1986-01-13, and was given the designation S/1986 U 6.[5] Desdemona is named after the wife of Othello in William Shakespeare's play Othello. It is also designated Uranus X.[6]
Desdemona belongs to Portia Group of moons, which also includes Bianca, Cressida, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda and Perdita.[4] These moons have similar orbits and photometric properties.[4] Unfortunately, other than its orbit,[1] radius of 34 km[2] and geometric albedo of 0.08[4] almost nothing is known about it.
At the Voyager 2 images Desdemona appears as a stretched object, the major axis pointing towards Uranus. The ratio of axises of the Desdemona's prolate spheroid is 0.6 ± 0.3.[2] Its surface is grey in color.[2]