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Ophelia (moon)

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Ophelia
Discovery
Discovered byRichard J. Terrile / Voyager 2
Discovery dateJanuary 20, 1986
Orbital characteristics
Mean orbit radius
53,763.390 ± 0.847 km
Eccentricity0.00992 ± 0.000107
0.37640039 ± 0.00000357 d
Inclination0.10362 ± 0.055° (to Uranus' equator)
Satellite ofUranus
Physical characteristics
Dimensions54 × 38 × 38 km
Mean radius
23 ± 4 km
~6600 km²
Volume~41,000 km³
Mass~5.1×1016 kg
Mean density
~1.3 g/cm³ assumed
~0.0070 m/s2
~0.018 km/s
synchronous
zero
Albedo0.08 ± 0.01
Temperature~64 K
Discovery image of Ophelia

Ophelia is a closer moon of Uranus. It was found from the images taken by Voyager 2 on January 20, 1986, and was given the designation S/1986 U 8. It was not seen until the Hubble Space Telescope saw it in 2003.

Ophelia was named after the daughter of Polonius, Ophelia, in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. It is also designated Uranus VII.

Unfortunately, other than its orbit, radius of 23 km and geometric albedo of 0.08, almost nothing is known about it. At the Voyager 2 images Ophelia appears as a streched object, the major axis pointing towards Uranus.

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