Cupid 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 by Mark R. Showalter and Jack J. Lissauer 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 ver ...

. It was named after a character 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 ''

Timon of Athens ''Timon of Athens'' (''The Life of Tymon of Athens'') is a play written by William Shakespeare and probably also Thomas Middleton in about 1606. It was published in the '' First Folio'' in 1623. Timon lavishes his wealth on parasitic compani ...

''. It is the smallest known inner Uranian satellite, crudely estimated to be only about 18 km in diameter. This and the dark surface made it too dim to be detected 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 ...

'' cameras during its Uranus flyby in 1986. The orbit of Cupid differs only by 863 km from the orbit of the larger moon Belinda. Unlike Mab 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� ...

, Uranian satellites also discovered in 2003, it does not seem to be perturbed. Following its discovery, Cupid was given the temporary designation S/2003 U 2. It is also designated Uranus XXVII. It should not be confused with the

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the Solar System#Inner solar system, inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic o ...

763 Cupido.

References

External links

Hubble Uncovers Smallest Moons Yet Seen Around Uranus
nbsp;– Hubble Space Telescope news release (25 September 2003) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cupid (Moon) Moons of Uranus 20030825 Moons with a prograde orbit