Umbriel (moon)

Umbriel
A round spherical body with its left half illuminated. The surface is dark and has a low contrast. There are only a few bright patches. The terminator is slightly to the right from the center and runs from the top to bottom. A large crater named Wunda with a bright ring on its floor can be seen at the top of the image near the terminator. A pair of large craters with bright central peaks can be seen along the terminator in the upper part of the body. The illuminated surface is covered by a large number of craters.
Grayscale image of Umbriel from Voyager 2, January 1986. Umbriel's surface is heavily battered; the bright crater Wunda can be seen at the top of the image.
Discovery
Discovered byWilliam Lassell
Discovery dateOctober 24, 1851
Designations
Designation
Uranus II
Pronunciation/ˈʌmbriəl/[1]
AdjectivesUmbrielian
Orbital characteristics[2]
266000 km
Eccentricity0.0039
4.144 d
4.67 km/s (calculated)
Inclination0.128° (to Uranus's equator)
Satellite ofUranus
Physical characteristics
Mean radius
584.7±2.8 km (0.092 Earths)[3]
4296000 km2 (0.008 Earths)[a]
Volume837300000 km3 (0.0008 Earths)[b]
Mass(1.2885±0.0225)×1021 kg[5]
Mean density
1.539 g/cm3 (calculated)
0.252 m/s2 (~0.0257 g)[c]
0.542 km/s[d]
presumed synchronous[6]
0[6]
Albedo
  • 0.26 (geometrical)
  • 0.10 (Bond)[7]
Surface temp. min mean max
solstice[8] ? ≈ 75 K 85 K
15.1[9]
Atmosphere
Surface pressure
zero (presumed to be extremely low)

Umbriel (/ˈʌmbriəl/) is the third-largest moon of Uranus. It was discovered on October 24, 1851, by William Lassell. It was discovered at the same time as Ariel and named after a character in Alexander Pope's 1712 poem The Rape of the Lock. Umbriel consists mainly of ice with a substantial fraction of rock, and may be differentiated into a rocky core and an icy mantle. The surface is the darkest among Uranian moons, and appears to have been shaped primarily by impacts. However, the presence of canyons suggests early endogenic processes, and the moon may have undergone an early endogenically driven resurfacing event that obliterated its older surface.

Covered by numerous impact craters reaching 210 km (130 mi) in diameter, Umbriel is the second-most heavily cratered satellite of Uranus after Oberon. The most prominent surface feature is a ring of bright material on the floor of Wunda crater. This moon, like all moons of Uranus, probably formed from an accretion disk that surrounded the planet just after its formation. The Uranian system has been studied up close only once, by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in January 1986. It took several images of Umbriel, which allowed mapping of about 40% of the moon's surface.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference dict-def was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference orbit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Thomas 1988 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference French et al. 2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Jacobson (2023), as cited in French et al. (2024)[4]
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Smith Soderblom et al. 1986 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Karkoschka 2001, Hubble was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Grundy Young et al. 2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Andy Wilson (December 1, 2021). "Observer's Challenge – The Moons of Uranus". British Astronomical Association. Retrieved March 1, 2023.


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