Margaret (moon)

Last updated
Margaret
S2003u3acircle.gif
Discovery image of Margaret taken by the Subaru Telescope in August 2003
Discovery
Discovered by
Discovery dateAugust 29, 2003 [1] [2]
Designations
Designation
Uranus XXIII
Pronunciation /ˈmɑːrɡərət/ [3]
Adjectives Margaretian /ˌmɑːrɡəˈrɛtiən/ [4]
Orbital characteristics
Mean orbit radius
14,345,000 km [5] [6]
Eccentricity 0.6608 [6] (mean)
1687.01 d
Inclination 57° (to the ecliptic) [5]
Satellite of Uranus
Physical characteristics
Mean radius
10 km (estimate) [7]
~1,300 km2(estimate)
Volume ~4,200 km3(estimate)
Mass ~5.5×1015 kg (estimate)
Mean density
~1.3 g/cm3(assumed)
~0.0023 m/s2 (estimate)
~0.0085 km/s (estimate)
?
?
Albedo 0.04 (assumed) [7]
Temperature ~65 K (estimate)

    Margaret is the only known prograde irregular satellite of the moons of Uranus. It was discovered by Scott S. Sheppard, et al. in 2003 and given the provisional designation S/2003 U 3. [8]

    Contents

    Confirmed as Uranus XXIII, it was named after the servant of Hero in William Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing . [1]

    Orbit

    Animation of discovery images showing Margaret's motion relative to background stars and galaxies Margaret discovery.gif
    Animation of discovery images showing Margaret's motion relative to background stars and galaxies
    Irregular satellites of Uranus TheIrregulars URANUS.svg
    Irregular satellites of Uranus

    Margaret stands out as the only prograde irregular satellite of Uranus. The diagram illustrates the orbital parameters of Margaret, unique among the irregular satellites of Uranus, with inclination on the vertical axis and the eccentricity of the orbits represented by the segments extending from the pericentre to the apocentre.

    Margaret's inclination of 57° is close to the limit of stability. The intermediate inclinations 60 < i < 140 are devoid of known moons due to the Kozai instability. [9] In this instability region, solar perturbations at apoapse cause the moons in this region to acquire large eccentricities that lead to collisions or ejection over 10 million to a billion years. Margaret's periapsis precession period (Pw) is almost 1.6 million years long. [6] Margaret itself may be ejected from the Uranian system in the far future. [10]

    Margaret's orbit is subject to solar and planetary perturbations; thus, its orbital elements are variable over short timescales. Over a timescale of 8,000 years, the average orbital eccentricity of Margaret is 0.68. In 2010, its eccentricity grew to 0.81, [11] temporarily making Margaret with the most eccentric orbit of any moon in the Solar System, though Nereid's average eccentricity of 0.75 is greater. [6]

    See also

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Caliban (moon)</span> Moon of Uranus

    Caliban is the second-largest retrograde irregular satellite of Uranus. It was discovered on 6 September 1997 by Brett J. Gladman, Philip D. Nicholson, Joseph A. Burns, and John J. Kavelaars using the 200-inch Hale telescope together with Sycorax and given the temporary designation S/1997 U 1.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Setebos (moon)</span> Moon of Uranus

    Setebos is one of the outermost retrograde irregular satellites of Uranus. It was discovered on 18 July 1999 by John J. Kavelaars et al. and provisionally designated S/1999 U 1.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Kale (moon)</span>

    Kale, also known as Jupiter XXXVII, is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered in 2001 by astronomers Scott S. Sheppard, D. Jewitt, and J. Kleyna, and was originally designated as S/2001 J 8.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Sycorax (moon)</span> Moon of Uranus

    Sycorax is the largest irregular satellite of Uranus. Sycorax was discovered on 6 September 1997 by Brett J. Gladman, Philip D. Nicholson, Joseph A. Burns, and John J. Kavelaars using the 200-inch Hale telescope, together with Caliban, and given the temporary designation S/1997 U 2.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Prospero (moon)</span> Moon of Uranus

    Prospero is a relatively small retrograde irregular satellite of Uranus discovered on 18 July 1999 by the astrophysicist Matthew Holman and his team, and given the provisional designation S/1999 U 3. Confirmed as Uranus XVIII it was named after the sorcerer Prospero in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermippe (moon)</span> Moon of Jupiter

    Hermippe, or Jupiter XXX, is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered concurrently with Eurydome by a team of astronomers from the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii led by David Jewitt and Scott S. Sheppard and Jan Kleyna in 2001, and given the temporary designation S/2001 J 3.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiviuq (moon)</span> Moon of Saturn

    Kiviuq is a prograde irregular satellite of Saturn. It was discovered by J. J. Kavelaars in 2000, and given the temporary designation S/2000 S 5. It was named after Kiviuq, a hero of Inuit mythology.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephano (moon)</span> Moon of Uranus

    Stephano is a retrograde irregular satellite of Uranus. It was discovered by Brett J. Gladman, et al. in 1999, and given the provisional designation S/1999 U 2.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinculo (moon)</span> Moon of Uranus

    Trinculo is a retrograde irregular satellite of Uranus. It was discovered by a group of astronomers led by Holman, et al. on 13 August 2001, and given the temporary designation S/2001 U 1.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Carpo (moon)</span> Outer moon of Jupiter

    Carpo, also Jupiter XLVI, is a small outer natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2003, and was provisionally designated as S/2003 J 20 until it received its name in early 2005. It was named in March 2005 after Carpo, one of the Horae, and a daughter of Zeus (Jupiter).

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Francisco (moon)</span> Moon of Uranus

    Francisco is the innermost irregular satellite of Uranus.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferdinand (moon)</span> Moon of Uranus

    Ferdinand is the outermost retrograde irregular satellite of Uranus. It was first seen near Uranus by Matthew J. Holman, John J. Kavelaars, Dan Milisavljevic, and Brett J. Gladman on August 13, 2001 and reobserved on September 21, 2001. The object was then lost with no confirmation it was actually orbiting around Uranus.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Halimede (moon)</span> Moon of Neptune


    Halimede, or Neptune IX, is a retrograde irregular satellite of Neptune. It was discovered by Matthew J. Holman, John J. Kavelaars, Tommy Grav, Wesley C. Fraser and Dan Milisavljevic on August 14, 2002.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Sao (moon)</span> Moon of Neptune

    Sao is a prograde irregular satellite of Neptune. It was discovered by Matthew J. Holman et al. on August 14, 2002.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Laomedeia</span> Moon of Neptune

    Laomedeia, also known as Neptune XII, is a prograde irregular satellite of Neptune. It was discovered by Matthew J. Holman, et al. on August 13, 2002. Before the announcement of its name on February 3, 2007, it was known as S/2002 N 3.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Neso (moon)</span> Outermost moon of Neptune

    Neso, also known as Neptune XIII, is the outermost known natural satellite of Neptune. It is a retrograde irregular moon discovered by Matthew J. Holman, Brett J. Gladman, et al. on 14 August 2002, though it went unnoticed until 2003. Neso orbits Neptune at a distance of more than 48 Gm, making it the most distant known moon of any planet. At apocenter, the satellite is more than 72 Gm from Neptune. This distance exceeds Mercury's aphelion, which is approximately 70 Gm from the Sun.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Psamathe (moon)</span> Moon of Neptune

    Psamathe, also known as Neptune X, is a retrograde irregular satellite of Neptune. It is named after Psamathe, one of the Nereids. Psamathe was discovered by Scott S. Sheppard and David C. Jewitt in 2003 using the 8.2 meter Subaru telescope. Before it was officially named on February 3, 2007, it was known by the provisional designation S/2003 N 1.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Moons of Uranus</span> Natural satellites of the planet Uranus

    Uranus, the seventh planet of the Solar System, has at least 27 moons, most of which are named after characters that appear in, or are mentioned in, the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Uranus' moons are divided into three groups: thirteen inner moons, five major moons, and nine irregular moons. The inner and major moons all have prograde orbits, while orbits of the irregulars are mostly retrograde.

    S/2004 S 12 is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on 4 May 2005 from observations taken between 12 December 2004 and 9 March 2005.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Irregular moon</span> Captured satellite following an irregular orbit

    In astronomy, an irregular moon, irregular satellite or irregular natural satellite is a natural satellite following a distant, inclined, and often eccentric and retrograde orbit. They have been captured by their parent planet, unlike regular satellites, which formed in orbit around them. Irregular moons have a stable orbit, unlike temporary satellites which often have similarly irregular orbits but will eventually depart. The term does not refer to shape; Triton for example, is a round moon, but is considered irregular due to its orbit.

    References

    1. 1 2 Blue, Jennifer (2008-10-16). "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers". Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). Retrieved 2008-12-19.
    2. Sheppard, Scott S. "New Satellites of Uranus Discovered in 2003". Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii. Archived from the original on 5 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
    3. Benjamin Smith (1903) The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    4. Cathcart (1971) The Duchess of Kent
    5. 1 2 Sheppard, Jewitt & Kleyna 2005, p. 523, Table 3.
    6. 1 2 3 4 Jacobson, R.A. (2003) URA067 (2007-06-28). "Planetary Satellite Mean Orbital Parameters". JPL/NASA. Retrieved 2008-01-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
    7. 1 2 Sheppard, Jewitt & Kleyna 2005, p. 523, Table 3 ... ri (km) ... 10 ... i Radius of satellite assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04.
    8. IAU Circular 8217
    9. Sheppard, Jewitt & Kleyna 2005, pp. 524–525.
    10. Brozovic, M.; Jacobson, R. A. (4 March 2009). "The Orbits of the Outer Uranian Satellites". The Astronomical Journal. 137 (4): 3834–42. Bibcode:2009AJ....137.3834B. doi: 10.1088/0004-6256/137/4/3834 .
    11. "IAU-MPC Natural Satellites Ephemeris Service". IAU: Minor Planet Center . Retrieved 2008-01-26. (Select Uranian, deselect Ephemerides and select Orbital Elements)