Discovery date August 25, 2003 Satellite of Uranus Discovered 25 August 2003 Semimajor axis 74.392 million m Apparent magnitude 14.81 | Eccentricity 0.0013 Mean radius ~9 km Orbital period 15 hours Orbits Uranus | |
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Discovered by Mark R. Showalter and Jack J. Lissauer Inclination 0.1° (to Uranus' equator) Discoverers Mark Showalter, Jack J. Lissauer Similar Mark Showalter discoveries, Uranus moons, Other celestial objects | ||
Cupid (/ˈkjuːpɪd/ KEW-pid) is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered by Mark R. Showalter and Jack J. Lissauer in 2003 using the Hubble Space Telescope. It was named after a character in William Shakespeare's play Timon of Athens.
It is the smallest of inner Uranian satellites, crudely estimated to be only about 18 km in diameter. This and the dark surface made it too dim to be detected by the Voyager 2 cameras during its Uranus flyby in 1986.
The orbit of Cupid differs only by 863 km from the orbit of the larger moon Belinda. Unlike Mab and Perdita, Uranian satellites also discovered in 2003, it does not seem to be perturbed.
Following its discovery, Cupid was given the temporary designation S/2003 U 2. It is also designated Uranus XXVII.
It should not be confused with the asteroid 763 Cupido.