Oberon (moon)

Oberon (oh'-bur-on) is the outermost of the major moonss of the planet Uranus. It was discovered on 1787-01-11 by William Herschel.

Name

The name "Oberon" and the names of all four satellites of Uranus then known were suggested by Herschel's son John Herschel in 1852 at the request of William Lassell, who had discovered Ariel and Umbriel the year before ([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.

All of the moons of Uranus are named for characters from Shakespeare or Alexander Pope. Oberon was named after Oberon, the king of the Faeries in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

It is also designated Uranus IV.

Physical features

So far the only close-up images of Oberon are from the Voyager 2 probe, which photographed the moon during its Uranus flyby in January, 1986. At the time of the flyby the southern hemisphere of the moon was pointed towards the Sun so only it was studied.

Oberon is composed of roughly 50% water ice, 30% silicate rock, and 20% methane-related carbon/nitrogen compounds. It has an old, heavily cratered, and icy surface which shows little evidence of internal activity other than some unknown dark material that apparently covers the floors of many craters.

Scientists recognise only two types of geological feature on Oberon: craters and chasmata.

Oberon (moon)

Oberon (moon)

Name

Physical features

See also