Prospero, Setebos and Stephano Were Recovered May, June and August 2000

Summary: Prospero, Setebos and Stephano were recovered May, June and August 2000, within 10 months to one and one-half years of their July 18, 1999, discovery.

Recovery observations of S/1999 U 1 (Setebos) and S/1999 U 3 (Prospero) were achieved June 2000 at the La Palma's Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) in the Canary Islands; June 2001: Bob Tubbs, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Prospero, Setebos and Stephano were recovered May, June and August 2000, within 10 months to one and one-half years of their July 18, 1999, discovery as the third, fourth and fifth irregular satellites in the Uranian system.

S/1999 U 1, S/1999 U 2 and S/1999 U 3 were discovered via the 3.5-meter Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO) on the Big Island of Hawai’i. The discoveries were credited to J.J. (John J. “JJ”) Kavelaars of McMaster University; B. (Brett) Gladman of Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur (OCA); M. (Matthew) Holman of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA); and J.-M. (Jean-Marc) Petit and H. (Hans) Scholl of OCA. The discoveries were announced by Brian G. (Geoffrey) Marsden, director of the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT), via IAUC (International Astronomical Union Circular) no. 7230, dated July 27, 1999.

Recovery observations were accomplished for the trio of Uranian irregular satellites. IAUC 7447, dated July 3, 2000, credited CCD recovery images of S/1999 U 3, obtained May 27 to May 29, to co-discoverers Holman, Gladman and Kavelaars via the 3.8-meter Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak and June 28 CCD recovery images to co-discoverer Holman, in collaboration with T. Grav, N. Haug and K.B. Klepper, via La Palma’s 2.5-meter Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT). IAUC 7450, dated July 8, 2000, reported recovery of S/1999 U 1 June 28 and June 29 by co-discoverer Matthew Holman, in collaboration with T. (Tommy) Grav, N. Haug and K.B. Klepper, via the 2.5-meter Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma, northwestern Canary Islands. IAUC 7473, dated Aug. 5, 2000, announced successful recovery of S/1999 U 2 Aug. 3 by co-discoverer Gladman via the 3.6-meter reflector and CCD at the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) La Silla Observatory in northern Chile and Aug. 5 by co-discoverer Holman via the 3.5-meter Canada-France-Hawaii reflector and CCD at the Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO).

IAUC 7479, dated Aug. 21, 2000, reported the approval of permanent designations and names for the three “1999 satellites of Uranus.” Approval validated the irregulars as the third, fourth and fifth discoveries of irregular satellites in the Uranian system. The IAU made the approvals at the international astronomical association’s XXIVth (24th) General Assembly, held Monday, Aug. 7, to Friday, Aug. 18, 2000, in Manchester, United Kingdom.

S/1999 U 3 received the permanent designation of Uranus XVIII, reflecting its status as the 18th discovered Uranian satellite. Its permanent name of Prospero, namesaking a character in “The Tempest,” conforms with the convention of naming Uranian satellites after characters in Alexander Pope’s “Rape of the Lock” and in William Shakespeare’s plays. In “The Tempest,” Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, was banished to sea, along with his toddler daughter, Miranda, by his usurping brother, Antonio, and shipwrecked on a remote island.

Uranus XIX and Setebos were approved as the permanent designation for S/1999 U 1. The 19th discovered Uranian satellite’s name of Setebos references a demonic god in “The Tempest.”

Uranus XX and Stephano became the permanent designation for S/1999 U 2. Stephano, the King of Naples’ drunken butler in “The Tempest,” inspired the name for the 20th discovered Uranian satellite.

The irregular satellite trio’s detection occurred one year 10 and one-third months after the Sept. 7, 1997, discovery of the first two irregular satellites, Caliban (Uranus XVI; S/1997 U 1) and Sycorax (Uranus XVII; S/1997 U 2), in the Uranian system. The discovery of the first two irregular satellites motivated the successful search for the third, fourth and fifth irregulars, according to the discoverers’ report, “The Discovery of Uranus XIX, XX, and XXI,” published in the September 2000 issue of Icarus.

The takeaways from the May, June and August 2000 recovery observations of Uranian moons Prospero, Setebos and Stephano are that the successful recoveries allowed for confirmation of S/1999 U 1, S/1999 U 2 and S/1999 U 3 as the third, fourth and fifth irregular satellite discoveries in the Uranian system and for the approval of permanent designations (Uranus XIX, Uranus XX, Uranus XXI, respectively) and names for the trio; and that the trio’s five discoverers credited the Sept. 7, 1997, discovery of the first two Uranian irregulars for motivating their successful July 18, 1999, search.

Recovery observations of S/1999 U 2 (Stephano) were conducted August 2000 via the 3.6-meter reflector at the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) La Silla Observatory in northern Chile; exterior of La Silla's 3.6-meter reflector, March 31, 2010: ESO, CC BY 3.0, 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:

Recovery observations of S/1999 U 1 (Setebos) and S/1999 U 3 (Prospero) were achieved June 2000 at the La Palma's Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) in the Canary Islands; June 2001: Bob Tubbs, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Not_telescope_sunset_2001.jpg

Recovery observations of S/1999 U 2 (Stephano) were conducted August 2000 via the 3.6-meter reflector at the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) La Silla Observatory in northern Chile; exterior of La Silla's 3.6-meter reflector, March 31, 2010: ESO, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wallpaper_of_3.6-m_Telescope_at_La_Silla.jpg

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