Puck (moon)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Discovery
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| Discovered by | Stephen P. Synnott / Voyager 2 |
| Discovery date | December 30, 1985 |
| Mean orbit radius | 86,004.444 ± 0.064 km[1] |
| Eccentricity | 0.00012 ± 0.000061[1] |
| Orbital period | 0.76183287 ± 0.000000014 d[1] |
| Inclination | 0.31921 ± 0.021° (to Uranus' equator)[1] |
| Satellite of | Uranus |
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Physical characteristics
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| Mean radius | 81 ± 2 km[2] |
| Surface area | ~82,400 km²[3] |
| Volume | ~2,225,000 km³[3] |
| Mass | ~2.9×1018 kg[3] |
| Mean density | ~1.3 g/cm³ (assumed) |
| Equatorial surface gravity | 0.028 m/s2[3] |
| Escape velocity | 0.069 km/s [3] |
| Rotation period | synchronous[2] |
| Axial tilt | zero[2] |
| Albedo | 0.11 ± 0.1 (at 0.55 μm)[4] |
| Temperature | ~64 K[3] |
| Apparent magnitude | 20.2 [5] |
.jpg/100px-Puck_map_(Stooke).jpg)
Puck (pronounced /ˈpʌk/ puk') is an inner satellite of Uranus. Puck was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 1985-12-30, and was given the temporary designation S/1985 U 1.[6]
In Celtic mythology and English folklore, a Puck is a mischievous sprite, imagined as an evil demon by Christians; the moon is named after the Puck who appears in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which he travels around the globe at night with the fairies. It is also designated Uranus XV.[7]
Puck is the largest of small inner satellites of Uranus. It is intermediate in size between Portia and Miranda, the smallest of the five larger satellites. Puck's orbit is also located between these two moons. Little is known about it aside from its orbit,[1] its radius about 81 km,[2] and its geometric albedo approximately 0.11.[4]
Of the moons discovered by the Voyager 2 imaging team, only Puck was discovered early enough that the probe could be programmed to image it in some detail. Images showed that Puck has a shape of a slightly prolate spheroid (ratio between axises is 0.97 ± 0.04).[2]. Its surface is heavily cratered[8] and is grey in color.[2] There are three named craters on the surface of Puck. Observations with Hubble Space Telescope and large terrestrial telescopes found water ice absorption features in the spectrum of Puck.[4][9]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Jacobson, R.A. (1998). "The Orbits of the Inner Uranian Satellites From Hubble Space Telescope and Voyager2 Observations". The Astronomical Journal 115: 1195-1199. doi:.
- ^ 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: 69–77. doi:.
- ^ a b c d e f Calculated on the basis of other parameters
- ^ a b c Karkoschka, Erich (2001). "Comprehensive Photometry of the Rings and 16 Satellites of Uranus with the Hubble Space Telescope". Icarus 151: 51–68. doi:.
- ^ Puck Statistics. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
- ^ Smith, B. (January 16 1986). IAU Circular No. 4159. Retrieved on 2006-08-06.
- ^ Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers. Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology (July 21 2006). Retrieved on 2006-08-06.
- ^ Thomas, P. (1987). "Voyager observations of 1985U1". Icarus 72: 79-83. doi:.
- ^ Dumas, Christophe (2003). "Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS Multiband Photometry of Proteus and Puck". Astronomical Journal 126: 1080–1085. doi:.
[edit] External links
Puck Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
[edit] See also
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