Earth and Space News: Nine Uranian Irregular Moons Were Discovered Between 1997 and 2003

Summary: Nine Uranian irregular moons were discovered between 1997 and 2003 via Palomar, Mauna Kea and Cerro Tololo observatories.

graphic of nine irregular Uranian satellites, discovered between 1997 and 2003; Thursday, July 27, 2006, 23:06, plotted by a program written by User:Eurocommuter: Eurocommuter, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Nine irregular Uranian moons were discovered between 1997 and 2003 as the sideways planet’s most distant, eccentric and inclined satellites revealed themselves to observatories in California, Hawaii and Chile.

Until the discoveries of the first two irregular Uranian satellites, Uranus appeared to be the only one of the solar system’s four giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) to lack irregular satellites. Irregular satellites are also known as distant satellites, irregular moons or irregular natural satellites.

Planetary satellites primarily are classified as collisional debris, irregular satellites or regular satellites, according to Cornell University planetary scientist Joseph A. Burns in Satellites, which he co-edited with University of Arizona Space Science series editor Mildred Shapley Matthew (Feb. 15, 1915-Feb. 11, 2016) in 1986. He points out, however, that profiles of Earth’s moon, Neptune’s Triton and Pluto’s Charon exclude them from this classification scheme.

Collisional debris, or shards, often occur adjacently to their planets. Irregular satellites reside distantly from their planets as occupants of the outer reaches of planetary gravitational spheres of influence. Irregular satellites present eccentric, elongated, inclined orbits that suggest their capture by their primary bodies. Regular satellites trace circular orbits and occupy planes that approximately coincide with the equatorial planes of their primary bodies.

The discoveries of S/1997 U 1 and of S/1997 U 2 from frames obtained Sept. 6, 1997, established Uranus as congruent with fellow giants Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune in possessing irregular satellites. The frames were obtained by the California Institute of Technology’s (Caltech) Palomar Observatory in northern San Diego County’s Peninsular Ranges. Brett James Gladman of the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Philip David Nicholson and Joseph Arthur Burns of Cornell University, and John J. “JJ” Kavelaars of McMaster University are credited as discoverers of S/1997 U 1 and S/1997 U 2, officially known since 2000 as Caliban and Sycorax, respectively.

The second set of irregular Uranian satellite discoveries occurred on July 18, 1999, via images obtained by the Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO) on the Big Island of Hawai’i. John J. Kavelaars of McMaster University, Brett J. Goldman of Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA), Matthew J. Holman of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and Jean-Marc Petit and Hans Scholl of OCA are credited with discovering a set of three irregular satellites, S/1999 U 1, S/1999 U 2 and S/1999 U 3, officially known since 2000 as Prospero, Setebos and Stephano, respectively.

The third set of irregular Uranian satellite discoveries happened Aug. 13, 2001, via images obtained by the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory (CTIO) in northern Chile. Matthew J. Holman of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), John J. “JJ” Kavelaars of Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and Dan Milisavljevic of McMaster University are credited with discovering S/2001 U 1, officially known since 2003 as Trinculo. Teams led by Matthew J. Holman and Brett J. Goldman are credited with discovering S/2001 U 2, now known as Ferdinand. Holman, Kavelaars, Milisavljevic and Gladman are credited with discovering S/2001 U 3, now known as Francisco.

S/2003 U 3 was discovered as the ninth irregular Uranian moon on Aug. 29, 2003, via images obtained by the Mauna Kea Observatories. Scott Sander Sheppard of the University of Hawaii and David Clifford Jewitt are credited with the discovery of S/2003 U 3, now known as Margaret.

The takeaways from the discoveries of nine irregular Uranian moons between 1997 and 2003 are that, prior to the discoveries, Uranus distinguished itself from fellow planetary giants Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune by an absence of irregular satellites and that the discoveries were made by observatories in California, Hawaii and Chile.

graphic of eight of the nine irregular Uranian satellites that lie beyond Oberon, the outermost major moon in the Uranian system; Monday, Aug. 21, 2006, 16:14, plotted by a program written by User:Eurocommuter: Eurocommuter, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Burns, Joseph A. “1. Some Background About Satellites.” Pages 1-38. In Joseph A. Burns and Mildred Shapley Matthews, eds. Satellites. Space Science Series. Tucson AZ: University of Arizona Press, Nov. 1, 1986.

Burns, Joseph A.; and Mildred Shapley Matthews, eds. Satellites. Space Science Series. Tucson AZ: University of Arizona Press, Nov. 1, 1986.

Cornell Chronicle. “'Irregular' Satellites S/1997 U1 and S/1997 U2 Discovered With Palomar Mountain’s 5-Meter Hale Telescope.” Cornell University > Stories. Oct. 31, 1997.
Available @ http://news.cornell.edu/stories/1997/10/planet-uranus-has-two-more-moons-cornell-and-canadian-astronomers-find

Gladman, Brett J.; Philip D. Nicholson; Joseph A. Burns; JJ Kavelaars; Brian J. Marsden; Gareth V. Williams; and Warren B. Offutt. “Discovery of Two Distant Irregular Moons of Uranus.” Nature, vol. 392 (April 30, 1998): 897-899.
Available via Nature @ https://www.nature.com/articles/31890

Grav, Tommy; and Matthew J. Holman. “Photometry of Irregular Satellites of Uranus and Neptune.” The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 613 (Sept. 20, 2004): L77-L80. Available @ https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/424997/pdf

Green, Daniel W.E. “S/2001 U 1.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 7980. Sept. 30, 2002.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/07900/07980.html

Green, Daniel W.E. “S/2001 U 2 and S/2002 N 4.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 8213. Oct. 1, 2003.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/08200/08213.html

Green, Daniel W.E. “S/2001 U 3.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 8216. Oct. 7, 2003.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/08200/08216.html

Green, Daniel W.E. “S/2003 U 3.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 8217. Oct. 9, 2003.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/08200/08217.html

Green, Daniel W.E. “Satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 8177. Aug. 8, 2003.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/08100/08177.html

Green, Daniel W.E. “Satellites of Uranus.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 7479. Aug. 21, 2000.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/07400/07479.html

Green, Daniel W.E. “Satellites of Uranus.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 8648. Dec. 29, 2005.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/08600/08648.html

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Uranian System.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Planets

Johnston, William Robert. “List of IAU Preliminary Designations of Natural Satellites.” Johnston’s Archive > Astronomy and Space.
Available @ http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/moonlist.html

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Marriner, Derdriu. “William Herschel Discovered First Two Uranian Moons on Jan. 11, 1787.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/01/william-herschel-discovered-first-two.html

Marsden, Brian G. “Probable New Satellites of Uranus.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 7230. July 27, 1999.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/07200/07230.html

Marsden, Brian G. “Probable New Satellites of Uranus.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 7248. Sept. 4, 1999.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/07200/07248.html

Marsden, Brian G. “S/1997 U 1.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 6870. April 7, 1998.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/06800/06870.html

Marsden, Brian G. “S/1997 U 2.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 6869. April 7, 1998.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/06800/06869.html

Marsden, Brian G. “Satellites of Uranus.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 6764. Oct. 31, 1997.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/06700/06764.html

Marsden, Brian G. “Satellites of Uranus.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 7132. March 27, 1999.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/07100/07132.html

Moore, Patrick, Sir. Philip’s Atlas of the Universe. Revised edition. London UK: Philip’s, 2005.

Munsell, Kirk, acting ed. “Find the Moon: New Satellites of Uranus Discovered in 2003.” NASA Solar System. Oct. 1, 2003.
Available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20070802014025/http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=1

Nemiroff, Robert; and Jerry Bonnell. “Irregular Moons Discovered Around Uranus.” NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD). Nov. 3, 1997.
Available @ https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap971103.html

Schmude, Richard, Jr. “Captured Objects.” Pages 58-59. “Chapter 1 The Uranus System.” Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and How to Observe Them: 1-59. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. New York NY: Springer Science + Business Media LLC, 2008.
Available via ePDF @ https://epdf.pub/uranus-neptune-and-pluto-and-how-to-observe-them-astronomers-observing-guides.html
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=47azIwooFqEC&pg=PA27

Sheppard, Scott S.; David Jewitt; and Jan Kleyna. “An Ultradeep Survey for Irregular Satellites of Uranus: Limits to Completeness.” The Astronomical Journal, vol. 129, no. 1 (January 2005): 518-525.
Available via IOPscience @ https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/426329/pdf

Earth and Space News

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Nine Uranian Irregular Moons Were Discovered Between 1997 and 2003

No comments:

Post a Comment