Cordelia is the innermost known moon of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on January 20, 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 7.[1] It was not detected again until the Hubble Space Telescope observed it in 1997.[7][9] Cordelia takes its name from the youngest daughter of Lear in William Shakespeare's King Lear. It is also designated Uranus VI.[10]

Cordelia
Cordelia (Imaged 24 January 1986)
Discovery[1]
Discovered byRichard J. Terrile / Voyager 2
Discovery dateJanuary 20, 1986
Designations
Designation
Uranus VI
Pronunciation/kɔːrˈdliə/[2]
AdjectivesCordelian[3]
Orbital characteristics[4]
49751.722±0.149 km
Eccentricity0.00026±0.000096
0.33503384±0.00000058 d
Inclination0.08479°±0.031° (to Uranus' equator)
Satellite ofUranus
Groupring shepherd
Physical characteristics
Dimensions50 × 36 × 36 km[5][note 1]
~5200 km2[a]
Volume33900±34.9% km3[6]
Mass(6.08±0.57)×1016 kg[6]
Mean density
1.79+0.97
−0.49
 g/cm3
[6]
~0.006–0.013 m/s2[a]
~0.018–0.021 km/s[a]
synchronous[5]
zero[5]
Albedo0.06±0.01[7]
0.07[8]
Temperature~65 K[a]
  1. ^ Only two dimensions are known; the third dimension has been assumed to equal the smaller known dimension.

Other than its orbit,[4] size of 50 × 36 km,[5] and geometric albedo of 0.06,[7] virtually nothing is known about it. In the Voyager 2 images, Cordelia appears as an elongated object with its major axis pointing towards Uranus. The ratio of axes of Cordelia's prolate spheroid is 0.7±0.2.[5]

Cordelia acts as the inner shepherd satellite for Uranus's ε ring.[11] Cordelia's orbit is within Uranus's synchronous orbit radius, and is therefore slowly decaying due to tidal deceleration.[5]

Cordelia is very close to a 5:3 orbital resonance with Rosalind.[12]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Calculated on the basis of other parameters.

References

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  1. ^ a b Smith, B. A. (1986-01-27). "Satellites and Rings of Uranus". IAU Circular. 4168. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
  2. ^ Benjamin Smith (1903). The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia.
  3. ^ Jennifer Bates (2010). Hegel and Shakespeare on Moral Imagination. p. 102.
  4. ^ a b Jacobson, R. A. (1998). "The Orbits of the Inner Uranian Satellites From Hubble Space Telescope and Voyager 2 Observations". The Astronomical Journal. 115 (3): 1195–1199. Bibcode:1998AJ....115.1195J. doi:10.1086/300263.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Karkoschka, Erich (2001). "Voyager's Eleventh Discovery of a Satellite of Uranus and Photometry and the First Size Measurements of Nine Satellites". Icarus. 151 (1): 69–77. Bibcode:2001Icar..151...69K. doi:10.1006/icar.2001.6597.
  6. ^ a b c French, Richard G.; Hedman, Matthew M.; Nicholson, Philip D.; Longaretti, Pierre-Yves; McGhee-French, Colleen A. (2024-03-15). "The Uranus system from occultation observations (1977–2006): Rings, pole direction, gravity field, and masses of Cressida, Cordelia, and Ophelia". Icarus. 411: 115957. arXiv:2401.04634. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2024.115957. ISSN 0019-1035.
  7. ^ a b c Karkoschka, Erich (2001). "Comprehensive Photometry of the Rings and 16 Satellites of Uranus with the Hubble Space Telescope". Icarus. 151 (1): 51–68. Bibcode:2001Icar..151...51K. doi:10.1006/icar.2001.6596.
  8. ^ Williams, Dr. David R. (23 November 2007). "Uranian Satellite Fact Sheet". NASA (National Space Science Data Center). Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  9. ^ Showalter, M. R.; Lissauer, J. J. (2003-09-03). "Satellites of Uranus". IAU Circular. 8194. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
  10. ^ "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology. July 21, 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
  11. ^ Esposito, L. W. (2002). "Planetary rings". Reports on Progress in Physics. 65 (12): 1741–1783. Bibcode:2002RPPh...65.1741E. doi:10.1088/0034-4885/65/12/201. S2CID 250909885.
  12. ^ Murray, Carl D.; Thompson, Robert P. (1990-12-06). "Orbits of shepherd satellites deduced from the structure of the rings of Uranus". Nature. 348 (6301): 499–502. Bibcode:1990Natur.348..499M. doi:10.1038/348499a0. ISSN 0028-0836. S2CID 4320268.
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