Perdita 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 ...

. Perdita's discovery was complicated. The first photographs of Perdita were taken by the ''

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 ...

'' spacecraft in 1986, but it was not recognized from the photographs for more than a decade. In 1999, the moon was noticed by

Erich Karkoschka Erich Karkoschka (born 1955) is a planetary researcher at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona. He discovered a satellite of Uranus, S/1986 U 10 (later named Perdita (moon), Perdita) on photographs taken by the Voyager 2 ...

and reported. But because no further pictures could be taken to confirm its existence, it was officially demoted in 2001. However, in 2003, pictures taken by 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 ...

managed to pick up an object where Perdita was supposed to be, finally confirming its existence. Following its discovery in 1999, it was given the temporary designation of S/1986 U 10. It was named Perdita (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for 'lost') after the daughter of

Leontes King Leontes is a fictional character in Shakespeare's play ''The Winter's Tale''. He is the father of Mamillius and husband to Queen Hermione. He becomes obsessed with the belief that his wife has been having an affair with Polixenes, his childh ...

and Hermione 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 ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

''. The moon is also designated Uranus XXV. Uranus' Satellite 1986 U10 Discovery Image

The moon orbits between

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 ...

and Puck. The above-mentioned Hubble measurements prove that Perdita does not follow a direct

Keplerian Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, German mathematician, mathematician, astrologer, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scienti ...

motion around Uranus. Instead, it is clearly caught in a 43:44

orbital resonance In celestial mechanics, orbital resonance occurs when orbiting bodies exert regular, periodic gravitational influence on each other, usually because their orbital periods are related by a ratio of small integers. Most commonly, this relationsh ...

with the nearby moon

. It is also close to an 8:7 resonance with Rosalind. Perdita belongs to the Portia group of satellites, which also includes

Bianca Bianca is a feminine given name. It means "white" and is an Italian cognate of Blanche. Variants * Blanche: French * Bianca: Italian * Bianka ( Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, German, English, French, Icelandic, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, C ...

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 Troilus, ...

Desdemona Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a Moorish Venetian ...

, Portia,

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 R ...

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 ...

, Rosalind and

. These satellites have similar orbits and photometric properties. Little is known about Perdita apart from its orbit, radius of 15 km and geometric albedo of 0.08.

References

Explanatory notes Citations Sources * * * * * * *

External links

* Uranus 'Loses' a Moon: The 'New' Official Moon Count of the Solar Syste
(Archived)
Melanie Melton,

The Planetary Society The Planetary Society is an American internationally-active non-governmental nonprofit organization. It is involved in research, public outreach, and political space advocacy Space advocacy is supporting or advocating for a human use of out ...

, 20 December 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Perdita (Moon) Moons of Uranus 19990518 Moons with a prograde orbit

See also

References

External links