: ''There is also a

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term '' ...

called 666 Desdemona.'' Desdemona is an inner satellite of

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of Cronu ...

. It was discovered from the images taken by ''

Voyager 2 ''Voyager 2'' is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, to study the outer planets and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. As a part of the Voyager program, it was launched 16 days before its twin, ''Voyager 1'', on ...

'' on 13 January 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 6. Desdemona is named after the wife of Othello in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's play ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...

''. It is also designated Uranus X. Desdemona belongs to Portia Group of satellites, which also includes Bianca,

Cressida Cressida (; also Criseida, Cresseid or Criseyde) is a character who appears in many Medieval and Renaissance retellings of the story of the Trojan War. She is a Trojan woman, the daughter of Calchas, a Greek seer. She falls in love with Troil ...

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist Ro ...

, Portia, Rosalind,

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known in L ...

, Belinda and

Perdita Perdita (Italian for "loss", from Latin for "lost woman"), may refer to: People * Perdita Barran, English chemist * Perdita Buchan (born 1940), Anglo-American author * Perdita Felicien (born 1980), Canadian track athlete * Perdita Huston (1936� ...

. These satellites have similar orbits and photometric properties. Other than its orbit, radius of 32 km and geometric albedo of 0.08 virtually nothing is known about Desdemona. At the

images Desdemona appears as an elongated object, the major axis pointing towards Uranus. The ratio of axes of Desdemona's prolate spheroid is 0.6 ± 0.3. Its surface is grey in color. Desdemona may collide with one of its neighboring moons

within the next 100 million years.

References

Explanatory notes Citations

External links

Desdemona Profile
b
NASA's Solar System Exploration

(by Scott S. Sheppard) {{Solar System moons (compact) Moons of Uranus 19860113 Othello Moons with a prograde orbit

See also

References

External links