Umbriel (moon)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Umbriel
Umbriel
Click image for description
Discovery
Discovered by William Lassell
Discovered in October 24, 1851
Orbital characteristics
Semi-major axis 266,000 km
Eccentricity 0.0039
Periastron (Periuranion) 265,000 km
Apastron (Apuranion) 267,000 km
Orbital circumference 1,671,000 km
Orbital period 4.144 d
Mean orbital speed 4.668 km/s
Minimum orbital speed 4.650 km/s
Maximum orbital speed 4.686 km/s
Inclination 0.205° (to Uranus' equator)
Is a satellite of Uranus
Physical characteristics[1]
Mean diameter 1169.4 km (0.092 Earths)
Surface area 4,296,000 km2 (0.008 Earths)
Volume 837,300,000 km3 (0.0008 Earths)
Mass 1.2±0.1×1021 kg (0.0002 Earths)
Mean density 1.40±0.16 g/cm3
Surface gravity 0.23 m/s2 (0.023 g)
Escape velocity 0.52 km/s
Rotation period synchronous
Axial tilt zero
Rotation velocity 36.94 km/h (at the equator)
Albedo 0.21 ± 0.02[1]
Apparent Magnitude 14.81[2]
Angular Size 0.093" (max)
Surface temp.
min mean max
 ? K ~61 K  ? K
Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa

Umbriel (pronounced /ˈʌmbriəl/ um'-bree-əl) is a moon of Uranus discovered on October 24, 1851 by William Lassell. It was discovered at the same time as Ariel.

Contents

The name "Umbriel" and the names of all four satellites of Uranus then known were suggested by John Herschel in 1852 at the request of Lassell.[3] Lassell had earlier endorsed Herschel's 1847 naming scheme for the seven then-known satellites of Saturn and had named his newly-discovered eighth satellite Hyperion in accordance with Herschel's naming scheme in 1848. Umbriel is the 'dusky melancholy sprite' in Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock, and the name suggests the Latin umbra, shadow. The adjectival form of the name is Umbrielian.

It is also designated Uranus II.

So far the only close-up images of Umbriel are from the Voyager 2 probe, which made observations of the moon during its Uranus flyby in January, 1986. During the flyby the southern hemisphere of the moon was pointed towards the Sun so only it was studied.

Umbriel's surface is the darkest of the Uranian moons, and reflects only about half as much light as Ariel, Uranus' brightest satellite. Umbriel's heavily cratered surface has probably been stable since the Late Heavy Bombardment. It has far more and larger craters than do Ariel and Titania and is also the least geologically active.[4] It is mostly composed of water ice, with the balance made up of silicate rock, and other ices such as methane. Methane can break down and form reddish-black organic compounds such as tholins when bombarded by high-energy particles.[5] Near-IR spectra of Ariel and Umbriel clearly show that water ice dominates the spectra of these objects.[6]

Umbriel's most prominent feature is Wunda, a large ring of bright material near Umbriel's equator (see picture; the viewpoint is nearly polar). Wunda is presumably some kind of crater, but its exact nature is mysterious. Nearby, seen along the terminator, is the crater Skynd, which lacks a bright rim but possesses a bright central peak.


  1. ^ a b Yeomans, Donald K. (2006-Jul-13). Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters. JPL Solar System Dynamics. Retrieved on 2005-06-12.
  2. ^ Classic Satellites of the Solar System. Observatorio ARVAL. Retrieved on 2007-09-28.
  3. ^ http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/AN.../0034//0000169.000.html Adsabs.harvard.edu Retrieved on 06-01-07
  4. ^ Arnett, William A. (2006 Aug 25). Umbriel. The Nine Planets. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
  5. ^ Overbye, Roger (April 1986). Voyager was on target again; in the latest unmanned triumph, Voyager 2 surveyed Uranus and sent back a real bull's-eye. Discover. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
  6. ^ Dumas, Christophe; Bradford A. Smith, and Richard J. Terrile (2003). "Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS Multiband Photometry of Proteus and Puck". The Astronomical Journal 126 (2003): 1080–1085. doi:10.1086/375909. 


Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.