Encyclopedia > Oberon (moon)
Oberon (moon)
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| Discovery | |||||||
| Discovered by | William Herschel | ||||||
| Discovered in | January 11, 1787 | Orbital characteristics | |||||
| Mean radius | 583519 km | ||||||
| Eccentricity | ~0.0016 | ||||||
| Orbital period | 13.463234d | ||||||
| Inclination | ~0.7° | ||||||
| Is a satellite of | Uranus | ||||||
| Physical characteristics | |||||||
| Equatorial diameter | 761.4 km | ||||||
| Surface area | km2 | ||||||
| Mass | 3.014×1021 kg | ||||||
| Mean density | 1.63 g/cm3 | ||||||
| Surface gravity | 0.346 m/s2 | ||||||
| Rotation period | ? | ||||||
| Axial tilt | ?° | ||||||
| Albedo | 0.24 | ||||||
| Surface temp. |
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| Atmospheric pressure | 0 kPa | ||||||
Oberon is the outermost of the major moons of the planet Uranus; discovered on January 11, 1787 by William Herschel. All of the moons of Uranus are named for characters from Shakespeare or Alexander Pope. Names for the first four discovered moons of Uranus (Oberon, Titania, Ariel, Umbriel) were given by John Herschel, the son of William. Oberon was named after Oberon, the king of the Faeries in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Oberon is composed of roughly 50% water ice, 30% silicate rock, and 20% methane-related carbon/nitrogen compounds. It has an old, heavily cratered, and icy surface which shows shows little evidence of internal activity other than some unknown dark material that apparently covers the floors of many craters.
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