Ferdinand is the outermost retrograde irregular satellite of

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...

. It was first seen near Uranus by Matthew J. Holman, John J. Kavelaars, Dan Milisavljevic, and Brett J. Gladman on August 13, 2001 and reobserved on September 21, 2001. The object was then lost with no confirmation it was actually orbiting around Uranus. On August 29 and 30, 2003 a team led by Scott S. Sheppard surveyed the sky around Uranus with the Subaru Telescope and detected two unknown objects near Uranus. These two new objects were reobserved by Sheppard et al. with the Gemini telescope on September 20, 2003 and reported to the Minor Planet Center as possible new moons of Uranus. On September 24, 2003, Brian G. Marsden, at the Minor Planet Center, linked one of the unknown objects reported by Sheppard et al. to the lost object observed by Holman et al. in 2001. Holman was then able to confirm the linkage between the 2001 and 2003 objects on September 30, 2003 by observing its location with the Magellan-Baade telescope. The linked 2001 and 2003 object was then given the provisional designation S/2001 U 2 on October 1, 2003, officially identifying it as a new moon of Uranus. Now designated Uranus XXIV, Ferdinand is named after the son of the King of Naples in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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 Tempest''. The second new object observed by Sheppard et al. in 2003 was also a new moon of Uranus, now named

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

Orbit

Ferdinand is the most distant known satellite of Uranus. It follows a retrograde, modestly inclined but highly eccentric orbit. The diagram illustrates the orbital parameters of the retrograde irregular satellites of Uranus (in polar co-ordinates) with the eccentricity of the orbits represented by the segments extending from the pericentre to the apocentre.

References

External links

Ferdinand Profile
b
NASA's Solar System Exploration

(by Scott S. Sheppard)
MPC: Natural Satellites Ephemeris Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferdinand (Moon) Moons of Uranus Irregular satellites Discoveries by Brett J. Gladman 20010813 Moons with a retrograde orbit The Tempest

Orbit

See also

References

External links