Uranian Moon Desdemona Was Discovered in Voyager 2 Images Jan. 13, 1986

Summary: Uranian moon Desdemona was discovered in images taken Monday, Jan. 13, 1986, by Voyager 2 during the probe's flyby of the seventh planet from the sun.

Monday, Jan. 3, 1986, discovery image of S/1986 U6, with inserted label as Desdemona: NASA Solar System Exploration (SSE), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Uranian moon Desdemona was discovered in images obtained Monday, Jan. 13, 1986, by Voyager 2 during the interstellar and planetary space probe's flyby of the seventh planet from the sun.

Desdemona places among 11 satellites of Uranus that Voyager 2 imaged during the robotic spacecraft's flyby of the axially right-angle tilted Uranus from late autumn 1985 through winter 1986. Desdemona numbers among 10 Uranian satellites discovered via Voyager 2 images. The space probe produced more than 7,000 photographs during its observational encounter with the Uranian system from Monday, Nov. 4, 1985, to Tuesday, Feb. 25, 1986, according to John Uri, NASA Johnson Space Center's History Office manager, in "35 Years Ago: Voyager 2 Explores Uranus," posted Jan. 22, 2021, on the NASA website.

Three Uranian satellites that were discovered via Voyager 2 images taken Wednesday, Jan. 13, 1986, were listed in International Astronomical Union Circular (IAUC) No. 4164, dated Jan. 16, 1986, by the publication's editor, British lost asteroid and comet tracker Brian G. (Geoffrey) Marsden (Aug. 5, 1937-Nov. 18, 2010). The discoveries were reported by American planetary astronomer and Voyager mission lead imaging scientist B.A. (Bradford Adelbert) Smith (Sep. 22, 1931-July 3, 2018) on behalf of the Voyager Science Imaging Team. As the sixth new Uranian satellite discovered in 1986, the yet-unnamed Desdemona received the provisional designation of S/1986 U6, as stated in the circular issued by the IAU's Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT). Desdemona was identified with a revolution period of 11.39 hours; an orbital semimajor axis, or, primary body-to-secondary (orbiting) body mean distance, of 62,700 kilometers; and a satellite radius of 30 kilometers.

The satellite radius was corrected to the satellite diameter of 30 kilometers, according to Marsden's "Corrigendum" in International Astronomical Union Circular (IAUC) No. 4165, dated Jan. 17, 1986. The satellite's estimated diameter subsequently was confirmed at 30 kilometers by recalculations occasioned by a newly measured albedo of approximately 0.05 for Puck (provisionally designated S/1985 U1; systemic Roman numeral designation Uranus XV, abbreviated UXV), according to IAUC No. 4168, dated Jan. 27, 1968.

Desdemona shared its discovery date with two other Uranian satellites, yet-unnamed Belinda and Rosalind. The provisional designation of S/1986 U6 recognized Desdemona as the sixth new Uranian satellite discovered in 1986 and credited it as the trio's third discoveree. As the trio's first discoveree and as the fourth Uranian satellite discovered in 1986, Rosalind was designated provisionally as S/1986 U4. Sequencing as the trio's second discoveree and as the fifth Uranian satellite discovered in 1986, Belinda was designated provisionally as S/1986 U5.

Voyager 2 carries a two-camera system comprising a wide-angle camera with a focal length (f) of 1500 millimeters (mm) and a narrow-angle camera with a focal length of 200 millimeters. As with all 10 Voyager 2-discovered Uranian satellites, Desdemona, Belinda and Rosalind were captured in 15.36-second exposures obtained by the space probe's narrow-angle camera, according to William Mann Owen Jr. and Stephen P. Synnott in "Orbits of the Ten Small Satellites of Uranus" (page 1268), published in the May 1987 issue of The Astronomical Journal.

"Discovery Image of Satellite 1986 U 10 of Uranus, Erich Karkoschka, University of Arizona, May 1999, Image Taken by Voyager 2 on January 23, 1986," image taken Thursday, Jan. 23, 1986, by Voyager 2 spacecraft's narrow-angle camera shows (first; upper left edge) designation of Desdemona, with arrow pointing to its location; image credit Voyager 2, NASA, Erich Karkoschka (U. Arizona): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Desdemona is positioned as an inner satellite in the Uranian system. The 13 Uranian inner satellites orbit inside the orbit of Miranda, the innermost and smallest of the Uranian system's five large moons. Desdemona orbits between the system's third outermost ε (epsilon) ring and second outermost ν (nu) ring. Desdemona neighbors with Bianca (S/1986 U9), Desdemona (S/1986 U6), Cressida (S/1986 U3), Juliet (S/1986 U2), Ophelia (S/1986 U8) and Portia (S/1986 U1) in the densely-populated space between the two rings.

Desdemona members in the nine-member Portia Group of Uranian satellites. The group namesakes its largest member, Portia, and also includes Belinda (S/1986 U5), Bianca (S/1986 U9), Cressida (S/1986 U3), Cupid (S/2003 U2), Juliet (S/1986 U2), Perdita (S/1986 U10) and Rosalind (S/1986 U 4). The Portia Group reveal similar orbits and photometric properties, as established in "Comprehensive Photometry of the Rings and 16 Satellites of Uranus with the Hubble Space Telescope," published in the May 2001 issue of Icarus by the group's definer and namer, Erich Karkoschka, planetary scientist at the University of Arizona's (Arizona; U of A; UArizona; UA) Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) in Tucson, Pima County, south central Arizona.

The Portia Group's nine members crowd between ε (epsilon) ring and the outermost μ (mu) ring. Their "tightly packed" orbits cover a radial span of 20,000 kilometers, as determined in "Resonances, Chaos, and Short-Term Interactions Among the Inner Uranian Satellites," published by American planetary astronomer Richard G. French, American astrophysicist Rebekah I. (Ilene) Dawson and American planetary astronomer Mark R. (Robert) Showalter in the April 2015 issues of The Astronomical Journal. The group's members are sensitive to short-term and long-term orbital instability and evince the potential for such "chaotic behavior" as orbit crossings or collisions. Dynamic linkages with Cressida and Portia dominate Desdemona's orbital variations, according to the team's findings.

Eventual orbit crossing and "probable subsequent collision" are predicted for Cressida and Desdemona by SETI Institute planetary astronomers Robert S. French and Mark R. Showalter in "Cupid is Doomed: An Analysis of the Stability of the Inner Uranian Satellites," published in the August 2012 issue of Icarus. The encounter is placed at a timescale from 10 to the fifth power (10^5; 100 thousand; 100,000) to 10 to the 7th power (10^7; 10 million; 10,000,000) years.

Calculations of Cressida's density and mass help refine timescales. Cressida has a density of 0.86 grams, plus/minus 0.16, per cubic centimeter and a mass of 2.4 kilograms, plus/minus 0.4, by 10 to the 17th power (10^17; 100 quadrillion), according to American planetary astronomer Robert O. Chancia, American planetary scientist Matthew M. Hedmen and American planetary astronomer Richard G. French in "Weighing Uranus’ Moon Cressida with the η Ring," published in the October 2017 issue of The Astronomical Journal. Consideration of Cressida's mass density places a possible collision between Cressida and Desdemona at a timescale of one million (1,000,000; 10^6) years.

Desdemona's name recalls the fatally defamed Venetian senator's daughter in Othello (full title: The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice), the Venice-set tragedy first published in 1623 by Elizabethan poet William Shakespeare (bapt. April 26, 1564-April 23, 1616). The satellite's name conforms with the convention of naming the Uranian system's satellites after characters from Shakespearean plays or from "The Rape of the Lock," a satirical narrative poem first published anonymously in May 1712 by Enlightenment era poet, satirist and translator Alexander Pope (May 21, 1688-May 30, 1744), according to "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers" on the International Astronomical Union's U.S. Geological Survey-managed Gazeteer of Planetary Nomenclature website.

The International Astronomical Union has labeled 27 Uranian satellites with systemic Roman numeral designations I to XXVII. Cressida is known as Uranus X, abbreviated as UX.

Scott Sander Sheppard (born Feb. 19, 1977), an American astronomer with the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, DC, discovered the Uranian system's 28th satellite on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. The outer satellite, which has a diameter of 8 kilometers and an orbital period of 680 days, has received the temporary designation of S/2023 U1, according to "New moons of Uranus and Neptune announced," posted as Breaking News Feb. 23, 2024, on the Carnegie Institution of Science website.

Images were taken Monday, July 28, 1997, with second (right) obtained 90 minutes after the first, by NASA Hubble Space Telescope's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS); annotated image (right) identifies eight of the Uranian system's 13 inner satellites as (top, clockwise) Belinda, Puck (upper right), Portia, Bianca, Cressida, Juliet, Desdemona and Rosalind; image credit NASA/JPL/STScI; image Addition Date: 1999-05-21: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal

Acknowledgment

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

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

Monday, Jan. 3, 1986, discovery image of S/1986 U6, with inserted label as Desdemona: NASA Solar System Exploration (SSE), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uranus-Desdemona-NASA.gif

"Discovery Image of Satellite 1986 U 10 of Uranus, Erich Karkoschka, University of Arizona, May 1999, Image Taken by Voyager 2 on January 23, 1986," image taken Thursday, Jan. 23, 1986, by Voyager 2 spacecraft's narrow-angle camera shows (first; upper left edge) designation of Desdemona, with arrow pointing to its location; image credit Voyager 2, NASA, Erich Karkoschka (U. Arizona): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uranus'_Satellite_1986_U10_Discovery_Image.jpg; via Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20000815092629/http://science.opi.arizona.edu/pics/disc2.jpg

Images were taken Monday, July 28, 1997, with second (right) obtained 90 minutes after the first, by NASA Hubble Space Telescope's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS); annotated image (right) identifies eight of the Uranian system's 13 inner satellites as (top, clockwise) Belinda, Puck (upper right), Portia, Bianca, Cressida, Juliet, Desdemona and Rosalind; image credit NASA/JPL/STScI; image Addition Date: 1999-05-21: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01278; credits Erich Karkoschka (University of Arizona) and NASA: Public Domain, via NASA Hubblesite @ https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/1997/36/560-Image.html; Permissions Content Use Policy (Public Domain), via NASA Hubblesite @ https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/1997/news-1997-36.html

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