Ariel (moon)

Ariel (air'-ee-əl, IPA Template:IPA) is a moon of Uranus discovered on 1851-10-24 by William Lassell. It was discovered at the same time as Umbriel.

1 Name
2 Physical characteristics
3 See also
4 External links

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Name

Ariel is named after the leading sylph in Alexander Pope's poem Rape of the Lock.

The name "Ariel" and the names of all four satellites of Uranus then known were suggested by John Herschel in 1852 at the request of Lassell ([1]). Lassell had earlier endorsed Herschel's 1847 naming scheme for the seven then-known satellites of Saturn and had named his newly-discovered eighth satellite Hyperion in accordance with Herschel's naming scheme in 1848.

It is also designated Uranus I.

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Physical characteristics

The first and so far only close-up observations of Ariel were made by the Voyager 2 probe during its January 1986 Uranus fly-by. Because the moon's south pole was pointed towards the Sun, only the southern hemisphere was photographed.

Ariel's composition is roughly 70% ices (water ice, and possibly methane and/or carbon dioxide ices) and 30% silicate rock, and it appears to have regions of fresh frost in places. Carbon dioxide ice has been detected on Ariel by Earth-based astronomers. Largely devoid of impact craters, Ariel appears to have undergone a period of intense geological activity that has produced a huge network of fault canyons and icy outflows over its surface.

Scientists recognise the following geological features on Ariel:

Craters
Chasmata (chasms)
Valles (valleys)

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External links

Image:Uranus2 symbol.ant.png Uranus (satellites) edit
Cordelia \| Ophelia \| Bianca \| Cressida \| Desdemona \| Juliet \| Portia \| Rosalind \| Cupid
Belinda \| Perdita \| Puck \| Mab \| Miranda \| Ariel \| Umbriel \| Titania \| Oberon \| Francisco
Caliban \| Stephano \| Trinculo \| Sycorax \| Margaret \| Prospero \| Setebos \| Ferdinand
See also: Pronunciation key \| Rings of Uranus