Caliban (moon)

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Caliban
Discovery image of Caliban taken by the Hale Telescope in September 1997
Discovery[1]
Discovered by
Synodic rotation period
9.948±0.019 hr (double-peaked)[7]
2.66±0.04 hr (single-peaked)[9]
Albedo0.22+0.20
−0.12[7]
Temperature~65 K (mean estimate)
22.0 (V)[7]
9.160±0.016[7]
9.0[5]

Caliban

Hale telescope together with Sycorax and given the temporary designation S/1997 U 1.[1]

Designated Uranus XVI, it was named after the monster

The Tempest
.

Orbit

Animation of Caliban's orbit around Uranus.
   Uranus  ·    Sycorax ·    Francisco  ·    Caliban  ·    Stephano  ·    Trinculo

Caliban follows a distant orbit, more than 10 times further from Uranus than the furthest regular moon

eccentric. The orbital parameters suggest that it may belong to the same dynamic cluster as Stephano and Francisco, suggesting common origin.[11]

Retrograde irregular satellites of Uranus

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
.

Physical characteristics

Caliban's diameter is estimated to be around 42 km, based on thermal measurements by the Herschel Space Observatory.[7] Its albedo is estimated at around 0.22, which is unusually high compared to those of other Uranian irregular satellites. Neptune's largest irregular satellite, Nereid, has a similarly high albedo as Caliban.[7]

Somewhat inconsistent reports put Caliban in light-red category (B–V = 0.83 V–R = 0.52,[12] B–V = 0.84 ± 0.03 V–R = 0.57 ± 0.03[11]), redder than Himalia but still less red than most Kuiper belt objects. Caliban may be slightly redder than Sycorax.[9] It also absorbs light at 0.7 μm, and one group of astronomers think this may be a result of liquid water that modified the surface.[13]

Measurements of Caliban's light curve by the Kepler space telescope indicate that its rotation period is about 9.9 hours.[7]

Origin

Caliban is hypothesized to be a captured object: it did not form in the accretionary disk that existed around Uranus just after its formation. The exact capture mechanism is not known, but capturing a moon requires the dissipation of energy. The possible capture processes include: gas drag in the protoplanetary disk, many body interactions and the capture during the fast growth of the Uranus' mass (so-called "pull-down").[10][11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Gladman Nicholson et al. 1998.
  2. ^ "Caliban". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  3. ^ Benjamin Smith (1903) The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  4. ^ Apple, Au, & Gandin (2009) The Routledge international handbook of critical education
  5. ^ a b "M.P.C. 95215" (PDF). Minor Planet Circular. Minor Planet Center. 29 August 2015.
  6. ^ Brozovic, M.; Jacobson, R. A. (2009). "Planetary Satellite Mean Orbital Parameters". The Orbits of the Outer Uranian Satellites, Astronomical Journal, 137, 3834. JPL/NASA. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
  7. ^
    S2CID 118869078
    . 119.
  8. ^ a b "Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters".
    JPL
    (Solar System Dynamics). 20 December 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  9. ^ a b Maris, Michele; Carraro, Giovanni; Cremonese, Gabrielle; Fulle, Marco (May 2001). "Multicolor Photometry of the Uranus Irregular Satellites Sycorax and Caliban". The Astronomical Journal. 121 (5): 2800–2803.
    S2CID 16273706
    .
  10. ^ a b Sheppard, Jewitt & Kleyna 2005.
  11. ^ a b c Grav, Holman & Fraser 2004.
  12. ^ Rettig, Walsh & Consolmagno 2001.
  13. ^ Schmude, Richard (2008). Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and How to Observe Them. Springer.
    ISBN 978-0-387-76601-0
    .

External links
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