Belinda is an
inner satellite of the planet
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 ...
. Belinda 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 13 January 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 5. It is named after the heroine of
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
's ''
The Rape of the Lock
''The Rape of the Lock'' is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope. One of the most commonly cited examples of high burlesque, it was first published anonymously in Lintot's ''Miscellaneous Poems and Translations'' (May 1712 ...
''. It is also designated Uranus XIV.
Belinda belongs to the Portia group of satellites, which also includes
Bianca,
Cressida,
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
Portia may refer to:
Biology
* ''Portia'' (spider), a genus of jumping spiders
*'' Anaea troglodyta'' or Portia, a brush-footed butterfly
*Portia tree, a plant native to Polynesia
Medication
A form of birth control made of ethinylestradiol/lev ...
,
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 ...
,
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
Perdita. These satellites have similar orbits and photometric properties. Other than its orbit, radius of 45 km and geometric albedo of 0.08 virtually nothing is known about it.
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'', ...
images show Belinda as an elongated object with its major axis pointing towards Uranus. The moon is very elongated, with its short axis 0.5 ± 0.1 times the long axis. Its surface is grey in color.
The inner moon system is unstable over timescales of several millions of years. Belinda and Cupid will probably be the first pair of moons to collide, in 100,000 to 10 million years' time depending on the densities of the Portia-group satellites, due to resonant interactions with the much smaller Cupid.
See also
*
Moons of Uranus
Uranus, the seventh planet of the Solar System, has 27 known moons, most of which are named after characters that appear in, or are mentioned in, the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Uranus's moons are divided into three groups: t ...
References
Explanatory notes
Citations
Sources
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*
External links
Belinda Profileb
NASA's Solar System Exploration(by
Scott S. Sheppard)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belinda (Moon)
Moons of Uranus
19860113
Moons with a prograde orbit