Mab, or Uranus XXVI, is an

inner satellite In astronomy, an inner moon or inner natural satellite is a natural satellite following a prograde, low-inclination orbit inwards of the large satellites of the parent planet. They are generally thought to have been formed ''in situ'' at the same ...

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

. It was discovered by

Mark R. Showalter Mark Robert Showalter (born December 5, 1957) is a Senior Research Scientist at the SETI Institute. He is the discoverer of six moons and three planetary rings. He is the Principal Investigator of NASA's Planetary Data System Rings Node, a co-inv ...

and

Jack J. Lissauer Jack Jonathan Lissauer (born 1957) is an American research scientist who has worked for NASA's Ames Research Center since 1996. He is a science co-investigator on the Kepler space telescope mission. Biography Lissauer received a PhD in mathemat ...

in 2003 using the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...

. It was named after

Queen Mab Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', where "she is the fairies' midwife". Later, she appears in other poetry and literature, and in various guises in drama and cinema. In the play, her activity i ...

, a fairy queen from English folklore who is mentioned 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 nation ...

's play ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

''. Because the moon is small and dark, it was not seen in the heavily scrutinized 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 a ...

'' during its Uranus flyby in 1986. However, it is brighter than another moon, Perdita, which was discovered from Voyager's photos in 1997. This led scientists to re-examine the old photos again, and the satellite was finally found in the images. The size of Mab is not known exactly. If it is as dark as Puck, it is about 24 km in diameter. On the other hand, if it is brightly coloured like the neighbouring moon Miranda, it would be even smaller than

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

and comparable to the smallest outer satellites. Mab is heavily perturbed. The actual source for perturbation is still unclear, but is presumed to be one or more of the nearby orbiting moons. Mab orbits at the same distance from Uranus as the μ ring (formerly known as R/2003 U 1), a recently discovered dusty

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

. The moon is nearly the optimal size for dust production, since larger moons can recollect the escaping dust and smaller moons have too small surface areas for supplying the ring via ring particle or

meteoroid A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...

collisions. No rings associated with Perdita and Cupid have been found, probably because

Belinda Belinda is a feminine given name of unknown origin, apparently coined from Italian ''bella'', meaning "beautiful". Alternatively it may be derived from the Old High German name ''Betlinde'', which possibly meant "bright serpent" or "bright linde ...

limits the lifetimes of dust they generate. Following its discovery, Mab was given the temporary designation S/2003 U 1. The moon is also designated Uranus XXVI.

References

External links

Hubble Uncovers Smallest Moons Yet Seen Around Uranus
nbsp;– Hubble Space Telescope news release (25 September 2003)
NASA's Hubble Discovers New Rings and Moons Around Uranus
nbsp;– Hubble Space Telescope news release (22 December 2005)
Hubble detects two large outer rings, two new moons orbiting Uranus
(Courtesy of

Astronomy Magazine ''Astronomy'' is a monthly United States, American magazine about astronomy. Targeting amateur astronomy, amateur astronomers, it contains columns on sky viewing, reader-submitted astrophotography, astrophotographs, and articles on astronomy and ...

2005)
Uranus' Known Satellites
(by

Scott S. Sheppard Scott Sander Sheppard (born 1977) is an American astronomer and a discoverer of numerous moons, comets and minor planets in the outer Solar System. He is an astronomer in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution for Scie ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mab (Moon) Moons of Uranus 20030825 Moons with a prograde orbit Romeo and Juliet

See also

References

External links