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Discovery Of Two Possible Satellites of Uranus
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- Subject: Discovery Of Two Possible Satellites of Uranus
- From: Ron Baalke <BAALKE@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov>
- Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 19:35:33 GMT
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DISCOVERY OF TWO POSSIBLE SATELLITES OF URANUS
October 31, 1997
According to IAU Circular 6764, B. Gladman, P. Nicholson, J. Burns and
J. Kavelaars report the discovery of two possible satellites of Uranus.
The objects are designated S/1997 U 1 and S/1997 U 2. The objects were
detected from CCD images taken with the COSMIC camera on the Hale 5-meter
telescope at Palomar Observatory on September 6 and 7. Both objects have
also been observed in late October.
IAU Circular 6765 reports on the orbital computations done by
Brian Marsden and Garth Williams. Based on the latest observations, the
orbit of S/1997 U 2 is incompatible with a heliocentric orbit, and
has a better fit for a Uranus orbit. The orbit, however, appears to be
eccentric and is probably a retrogade orbit. The orbit solutions for
S/1997 U 1 are less conclusive due to it being the fainter of the two objects,
and harder to observe. Based on their magnitudes, the preliminary estimates
of the two objects' radii are 40 km and 80 km, respectively.
Ron Baalke