Ophelia
1
9.6
A small inner moon of Uranus discovered in 1986
- proper noun
- Specialized
:
Ofelia
- PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): The shepherding moons of the Uranian Epsilon ring, Cordelia (1986U7) and Ophelia (1986U8), as seen by Voyager 2.
- Ophelia and Cordelia
Examples
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The outermost ring, named Epsilon, has been unambiguously linked to two shepherd moons, Cordelia and Ophelia (see photo on p. 13).
Academic text (1995) -
Astrophysicists have studied Ophelia to understand its geological composition.
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Ophelia is one of the small inner moons of Uranus, discovered in 1986.
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Images from space missions show the unique surface features of Ophelia.
Surface Forms
Ophelia main
Etymology
Ophelia is the name given to a small moon of Uranus that was named after Shakespeare's character; the name itself comes from the Greek root ophel- meaning 'help', so the moon's name is a literary choice rather than a description of the moon.