Discovery date 18 July 1999 Inclination 152° (to the ecliptic) Orbital period 1,978 days Orbits Uranus | Mean orbit radius 16,256,000 km Satellite of Uranus Discovered 18 July 1999 Eccentricity 0.4448 | |
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Discovered by John J. Kavelaars
Brett J. Gladman
Matthew J. Holman
Jean-Marc Petit
Hans Scholl Adjectives Prosperonian, Prosperian Discoverers Matthew J. Holman, Brett J. Gladman, John J. Kavelaars, Hans Scholl Similar Brett J Gladman discoveries, Uranus moons, Other celestial objects | ||
Prospero (/ˈprɒspəroʊ/ PROS-pər-oh) is a relatively small retrograde irregular satellite of Uranus discovered on 18 July 1999 by the astrophysicist Matthew Holman and his team, and given the provisional designation S/1999 U 3. Confirmed as Uranus XVIII it was named after the sorcerer Prospero in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
The orbital parameters suggest that it may belong to the same dynamic cluster as Sycorax and Setebos, suggesting common origin. However, this suggestion does not appear to be supported by the observed colours. The satellite appears neutral (grey) in visible light (colour indices B-V=0.80, R-V=0.39), similar to Setebos but different from Sycorax (which is light red).
References
Prospero (moon) Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA