Ferdinand (moon)
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| Discovery | |||||||
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| Discovered by | Matthew J. Holman John J. Kavelaars Dan Milisavljevic Brett J. Gladman |
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| Discovered in | August 13, 2001 | ||||||
| Orbital characteristics | |||||||
| Mean radius | 20,901,000 km[1] | ||||||
| Eccentricity | 0.3682 | ||||||
| Orbital period | 2887.21 d | ||||||
| Inclination | 170° (to the ecliptic)[2] | ||||||
| Is a satellite of | Uranus | ||||||
| Physical characteristics | |||||||
| Mean diameter | ~20 km (estimate)[2] | ||||||
| Surface area | ~1300 km2 (estimate) | ||||||
| Volume | ~4200 km3 (estimate) | ||||||
| Mass | ~5.4×1015 kg (estimate) | ||||||
| Mean density | ~1.3 g/cm3 (assumed) | ||||||
| Surface gravity | ~0.0025 m/s2 (estimate) | ||||||
| Escape velocity | ~0.0085 km/s (estimate) | ||||||
| Rotation period | ? | ||||||
| Axial tilt | ?° | ||||||
| Albedo | 0.04 (assumed)[2] | ||||||
| Surface temp. |
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| Atmospheric pressure | 0 kPa | ||||||
Ferdinand (fər'-də-nand, IPA: /ˈfɝdɨnænd/) is the outermost retrograde irregular satellite of Uranus. It was discovered by Matthew J. Holman, John J. Kavelaars, Dan Milisavljevic, and Brett J. Gladman on August 13, 2001 and given the provisional designation S/2001 U 2.
Despite being seen again on September 21 and November 15 and even a year later on August 13 and September 5, 2002, it was eventually lost. It was finally recovered on September 24, 2003 by Scott S. Sheppard on images obtained by David C. Jewitt and himself on August 29-30 and September 20 of that year. Confirming observations were made by Holman on September 30.
Designated Uranus XXIV, it was named after the son of the King of Naples in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
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[edit] Orbit
Ferdinand is the most distant known satellite of Uranus. It follows a retrograde, modestly inclined but highly eccentric orbit. The diagram illustrates the orbital parameters of the retrograde irregular satellites of Uranus (in polar co-ordinates) with the eccentricity of the orbits represented by the segments extending from the pericentre to the apocentre.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Jacobson, R.A. (2003) URA067 (2007-Jun-28). Planetary Satellite Mean Orbital Parameters. JPL/NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
- ^ a b c Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, and Jan Kleyna An Ultradeep Survey for Irregular Satellites of Uranus: Limits to Completeness, The Astronomical Journal, 129 (2005), pages 518–525 . Preprint
[edit] External links
- Ferdinand Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
- David Jewitt pages
- Uranus' Known Satellites (by Scott S. Sheppard)
- Ephemeris
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