78-646: Titania may refer to: Astronomy [ edit ] Titania (moon) , the largest moon of the planet Uranus 593 Titania , an asteroid Chemistry and mineralogy [ edit ] Titania, an alternate name for titanium dioxide Fiction [ edit ] Titania (A Midsummer Night's Dream) , the Queen of the Fairies in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Titania (DC Comics) ,
156-512: A star put an upper limit on the surface pressure of any possible atmosphere at 1–2 mPa (10–20 nbar). The Uranian system has been studied up close only once, by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in January 1986. It took several images of Titania, which allowed mapping of about 40% of its surface. Titania was discovered by William Herschel on January 11, 1787, the same day he discovered Uranus's second largest moon, Oberon . He later reported
234-753: A DC Comics character Titania (Marvel Comics) , a Marvel Comics supervillain Titania (Grapplers) or Lascivious, a Marvel Comics supervillain Titania ( Fire Emblem ) , a paladin in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance Titania ( Dungeons & Dragons ) , a fey deity in Dungeons & Dragons Titania ( Gargoyles ) , a character in Gargoyles Titania, a fictional computer in Starship Titanic Titania or Asuna,
312-968: A character in Sword Art Online Titania, a fictional demon in Shin Megami Tensei Titania, a fictional kingdom in Odin Sphere Titania or Erza Scarlet, a character in Fairy Tail Titania, a fictional planet in the Star Fox Series Titania, a fictional character in The Ancient Magus' Bride Queen Titania, recurring character in the French Tara Duncan book series Ships [ edit ] SS Titania (1912) ,
390-535: A clathrate) and more rock, explaining their higher density. Titania's accretion probably lasted for several thousand years. The impacts that accompanied accretion caused heating of the moon's outer layer. The maximum temperature of around 250 K (−23 °C) was reached at a depth of about 60 kilometres (37 mi). After the end of formation, the subsurface layer cooled, while the interior of Titania heated due to decay of radioactive elements present in its rocks. The cooling near-surface layer contracted, while
468-584: A coaster in service 1939–1945 HMS Titania , a Royal Navy submarine depot ship, 1915–1949 USS Titania , a U.S. Navy Arcturus -class attack cargo ship commissioned in 1942 Fairey Titania, a class of sailing yacht built by Fairey Marine Ltd Titania , a clipper operated by the Hudson's Bay Company from 1885 to 1893; see Hudson's Bay Company vessels Other uses [ edit ] Titania (ballet) , an 1866 ballet choreographed by Marius Petipa to music by Cesare Pugni Titania Peak ,
546-512: A large impact suffered by Uranus early in its history. This view is supported by their large thermal inertia , a surface property they share with dwarf planets like Pluto and Haumea . It differs strongly from the thermal behaviour of the Uranian irregular moons that is comparable to classical trans-Neptunian objects . This suggests a separate origin. All major moons comprise approximately equal amounts rock and ice, except Miranda, which
624-490: A pressure larger than 10–20 nanobar. The path of the Sun in the local sky over the course of a local day during Uranus's and its major moons' summer solstice is quite different from that seen on most other Solar System worlds. The major moons have almost exactly the same rotational axial tilt as Uranus (their axes are parallel to that of Uranus). The Sun would appear to follow a circular path around Uranus's celestial pole in
702-481: A rock peak on Alexander Island, Antarctica "Titania", a poem by Gustaf Fröding "Titania", a song by Mando Diao Titania AS, a titanium mining company with a mine in Sokndal , Norway See also [ edit ] All pages with titles containing Titania Titania's Palace , a miniature castle Tytania , Japanese sci-fi novel series written by Yoshiki Tanaka Tatiana Topics referred to by
780-548: A thoroughly mortal character in Shakespeare's The Tempest . The current IAU practice is to name moons after characters from Shakespeare's plays and The Rape of the Lock (although at present only Ariel, Umbriel, and Belinda have names drawn from the latter; all the rest are from Shakespeare). The outer retrograde moons are all named after characters from one play, The Tempest ; the sole known outer prograde moon, Margaret ,
858-568: Is Messina Chasma , which runs for about 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) from the equator almost to the south pole. The grabens on Titania are 20–50 kilometres (12–31 mi) wide and have a relief of about 2–5 km. The scarps that are not related to canyons are called rupes, such as Rousillon Rupes near Ursula crater. The regions along some scarps and near Ursula appear smooth at Voyager 's image resolution. These smooth plains were probably resurfaced later in Titania's geological history, after
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#1732776843119936-518: Is 1,578 km in diameter and the eighth-largest moon in the Solar System, about one-twentieth the mass of the Earth 's Moon . The orbits of the regular moons are nearly coplanar with Uranus's equator, which is tilted 97.77° to its orbit. Uranus's irregular moons have elliptical and strongly inclined (mostly retrograde) orbits at large distances from the planet. William Herschel discovered
1014-406: Is Miranda's unusually high orbital inclination (4.34°) for a body so close to the planet. The largest Uranian moons may be internally differentiated, with rocky cores at their centers surrounded by ice mantles . Titania and Oberon may harbor liquid water oceans at the core/mantle boundary. The major moons of Uranus are airless bodies. For instance, Titania was shown to possess no atmosphere at
1092-508: Is Ursula, which has a pit in the center. To the west of Gertrude there is an area with irregular topography, the so-called "unnamed basin", which may be another highly degraded impact basin with the diameter of about 330 kilometres (210 mi). Titania's surface is intersected by a system of enormous faults , or scarps. In some places, two parallel scarps mark depressions in the satellite's crust, forming grabens , which are sometimes called canyons. The most prominent among Titania's canyons
1170-443: Is about 300 μPa (3 nbar). On September 8, 2001, Titania occulted a bright star ( HIP 106829 ) with a visible magnitude of 7.2; this was an opportunity to both refine Titania's diameter and ephemeris , and to detect any extant atmosphere. The data revealed no atmosphere to a surface pressure of 1–2 mPa (10–20 nbar); if it exists, it would have to be far thinner than that of Triton or Pluto . This upper limit
1248-469: Is between 10 and 23%. Umbriel is the darkest moon and Ariel the brightest. The masses of the moons range from 6.7 × 10 kg (Miranda) to 3.5 × 10 kg (Titania). For comparison, the Moon has a mass of 7.5 × 10 kg. The major moons of Uranus are thought to have formed in the accretion disc , which existed around Uranus for some time after its formation or resulted from
1326-419: Is covered with numerous impact craters reaching up to 326 kilometres (203 mi) in diameter, but is less heavily cratered than Oberon , outermost of the five large moons of Uranus. It may have undergone an early endogenic resurfacing event which obliterated its older, heavily cratered surface. Its surface is cut by a system of enormous canyons and scarps , the result of the expansion of its interior during
1404-525: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Titania (moon) Titania ( / t ə ˈ t ɑː n i ə , t ə ˈ t eɪ n i ə / ), also designated Uranus III , is the largest moon of Uranus . At a diameter of 1,578 kilometres (981 mi) it is the eighth largest moon in the Solar System , with a surface area comparable to that of Australia . Discovered by William Herschel in 1787, it
1482-454: Is intermediate in brightness between the dark Oberon and Umbriel and the bright Ariel and Miranda . Its surface shows a strong opposition surge : its reflectivity decreases from 35% at a phase angle of 0° ( geometrical albedo ) to 25% at an angle of about 1°. Titania has a relatively low Bond albedo of about 17%. Its surface is generally slightly red in color, but less red than that of Oberon . However, fresh impact deposits are bluer, while
1560-498: Is less heavily cratered than the surfaces of either Oberon or Umbriel, which means that the surface is much younger. The crater diameters reach 326 kilometers for the largest known crater, Gertrude (there can be also a degraded basin of approximately the same size). Some craters (for instance, Ursula and Jessica ) are surrounded by bright impact ejecta ( rays ) consisting of relatively fresh ice. All large craters on Titania have flat floors and central peaks. The only exception
1638-416: Is less than 10%. They are composed of water ice contaminated with a dark material, probably radiation-processed organics. The inner moons constantly perturb each other, especially within the closely-packed Portia and Belinda groups. The system is chaotic and apparently unstable. Simulations show that the moons may perturb each other into crossing orbits, which may eventually result in collisions between
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#17327768431191716-404: Is made primarily of ice. The ice component may include ammonia and carbon dioxide . Their surfaces are heavily cratered, though all of them (except Umbriel) show signs of endogenic resurfacing in the form of lineaments (canyons) and, in the case of Miranda, ovoid race-track like structures called coronae . Extensional processes associated with upwelling diapirs are likely responsible for
1794-489: Is named after the queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream . Its orbit lies inside Uranus 's magnetosphere . Titania consists of approximately equal amounts of ice and rock , and is probably differentiated into a rocky core and an icy mantle . A layer of liquid water may be present at the core–mantle boundary . Its surface, which is relatively dark and slightly red in color, appears to have been shaped by both impacts and endogenic processes. It
1872-451: Is named from Much Ado About Nothing . Some asteroids , also named after the same Shakespearean characters, share names with moons of Uranus: 171 Ophelia , 218 Bianca , 593 Titania , 666 Desdemona , 763 Cupido , and 2758 Cordelia . The Uranian satellite system is the least massive among those of the giant planets . Indeed, the combined mass of the five major satellites is less than half that of Triton (the seventh-largest moon in
1950-471: Is pronounced / t ɪ ˈ t eɪ n j ə / , but the moon is often pronounced / t aɪ ˈ t eɪ n i ə / , by analogy with the familiar chemical element titanium . The adjectival form, Titanian , is homonymous with that of Saturn's moon Titan . The name Titania is ancient Greek for "Daughter of the Titans". Titania orbits Uranus at the distance of about 436,000 kilometres (271,000 mi), being
2028-454: Is shown in light grey. The orbits and mean distances of the irregular moons are variable over short timescales due to frequent planetary and solar perturbations , therefore the listed orbital elements of all irregular moons are averaged over a 8,000-year numerical integration by Brozović and Jacobson (2009). These may differ from osculating orbital elements provided by other sources. The orbital elements of major moons listed here are based on
2106-417: Is still several times higher than the maximum possible surface pressure of the carbon dioxide, meaning that the measurements place essentially no constraints on parameters of the atmosphere. The peculiar geometry of the Uranian system causes the moons' poles to receive more solar energy than their equatorial regions. Because the vapor pressure of CO 2 is a steep function of temperature, this may lead to
2184-418: Is stronger on the trailing hemisphere (due to the plasma's co-rotation). The energetic particles tend to sputter water ice, decompose methane trapped in ice as clathrate hydrate and darken other organics, leaving a dark, carbon-rich residue behind. Except for water, the only other compound identified on the surface of Titania by infrared spectroscopy is carbon dioxide , which is concentrated mainly on
2262-431: Is uncertain if John Herschel was the originator of the names, or if it was instead William Lassell (who discovered Ariel and Umbriel) who chose the names and asked Herschel for permission. Subsequent names, rather than continuing the airy spirits theme (only Puck and Mab continued the trend), have focused on Herschel's source material. In 1949, the fifth moon, Miranda , was named by its discoverer Gerard Kuiper after
2340-431: Is up to 50 kilometres (31 mi) and its temperature is around 190 K (close to the water–ammonia eutectic temperature of 176 K). However the present internal structure of Titania depends heavily on its thermal history, which is poorly known. Recent studies suggest, contrary to earlier theories, that Uranus largest moons like Titania in fact could have active subsurface oceans. Among Uranus's moons, Titania
2418-460: The Kozai instability . In this instability region, solar perturbations at apoapse cause the moons to acquire large eccentricities that lead to collisions with inner satellites or ejection. The lifetime of moons in the instability region is from 10 million to a billion years. Margaret is the only known irregular prograde moon of Uranus, and it has one of the most eccentric orbits of any moon in
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2496-784: The McDonald Observatory discovered the smallest and the last of the five large, spherical moons, Miranda . Decades later, the flyby of the Voyager 2 space probe in January 1986 led to the discovery of ten further inner moons. Another satellite, Perdita , was discovered in 1999 by Erich Karkoschka after studying old Voyager photographs. Uranus was the last giant planet without any known irregular moons until 1997, when astronomers using ground-based telescopes discovered Sycorax and Caliban . From 1999 to 2003, astronomers continued searching for irregular moons of Uranus using more powerful ground-based telescopes, resulting in
2574-497: The 20th largest object in the Solar System. Its density of 1.68 g/cm , which is much higher than the typical density of Saturn's satellites, indicates that it consists of roughly equal proportions of water ice and dense non-ice components; the latter could be made of rock and carbonaceous material including heavy organic compounds . The presence of water ice is supported by infrared spectroscopic observations made in 2001–2005, which have revealed crystalline water ice on
2652-750: The Lock . Uranus's moons are divided into three groups: thirteen inner moons, five major moons , and ten irregular moons . The inner and major moons all have prograde orbits and are cumulatively classified as regular moons . In contrast, the orbits of the irregular moons are distant, highly inclined , and mostly retrograde. The inner moons are small dark bodies that share common properties and origins with Uranus's rings . The five major moons are ellipsoidal, indicating that they reached hydrostatic equilibrium at some point in their past (and may still be in equilibrium), and four of them show signs of internally driven processes such as canyon formation and volcanism on their surfaces. The largest of these five, Titania ,
2730-572: The Portia group, which includes the six moons Bianca , Cressida , Desdemona , Juliet , Portia , and Rosalind ; and the Belinda group, which includes the three moons Cupid , Belinda , and Perdita . All of the inner moons are intimately connected with the rings of Uranus , which probably resulted from the fragmentation of one or several small inner moons. The two innermost moons, Cordelia and Ophelia , are shepherds of Uranus's ε ring, whereas
2808-597: The Solar System) alone. The largest of the satellites, Titania , has a radius of 788.9 km, or less than half that of the Moon , but slightly more than that of Rhea , the second-largest moon of Saturn , making Titania the eighth-largest moon in the Solar System . Uranus is about 10,000 times more massive than its moons. As of 2024, Uranus is known to have 13 inner moons, whose orbits all lie inside that of Miranda . The inner moons are classified into two groups based on similar orbital distances: these are
2886-408: The Solar System. The Uranian moons are listed here by orbital period, from shortest to longest. Moons massive enough for their surfaces to have collapsed into a spheroid are highlighted in light blue and bolded. The inner and major moons all have prograde orbits. Irregular moons with retrograde orbits are shown in dark grey. Margaret, the only known irregular moon of Uranus with a prograde orbit,
2964-423: The Uranian magnetosphere . This is important, because the trailing hemispheres of satellites orbiting inside a magnetosphere are struck by magnetospheric plasma, which co-rotates with the planet. This bombardment may lead to the darkening of the trailing hemispheres, which is actually observed for all Uranian moons except Oberon (see below). Because Uranus orbits the Sun almost on its side, and its moons orbit in
3042-492: The Uranian satellites' bulk properties, internal structure, and geologic history. A Uranus orbiter had previously been listed as the third priority for a NASA Flagship mission by the 2013–2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey . Moon of Uranus Uranus , the seventh planet of the Solar System , has 28 confirmed moons . The 27 with names are named after characters that appear in, or are mentioned in, William Shakespeare 's plays and Alexander Pope 's poem The Rape of
3120-508: The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the low-latitude regions of Titania, where it can stably exist on high albedo patches and shaded regions of the surface in the form of ice. During the summer, when the polar temperatures reach as high as 85–90 K, carbon dioxide sublimates and migrates to the opposite pole and to the equatorial regions, giving rise to a type of carbon cycle . The accumulated carbon dioxide ice can be removed from cold traps by magnetospheric particles, which sputter it from
3198-441: The age of the Solar System . However, the color asymmetry of Titania is more likely related to accretion of a reddish material coming from outer parts of the Uranian system, possibly, from irregular satellites , which would be deposited predominately on the leading hemisphere. Scientists have recognized three classes of geological feature on Titania: craters , chasmata ( canyons ) and rupes ( scarps ). The surface of Titania
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3276-430: The discoveries of four more satellites, although they were subsequently revealed as spurious. For nearly the next 50 years, Titania and Oberon would not be observed by any instrument other than William Herschel's, although the moon can be seen from Earth with a present-day high-end amateur telescope. All of Uranus's moons are named after characters created by William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope . The name Titania
3354-774: The discovery of seven more Uranian irregular moons. In addition, two small inner moons, Cupid and Mab , were discovered using the Hubble Space Telescope in 2003. No other discoveries were made until 2021 and 2023, when Scott Sheppard and colleagues discovered one more irregular moon of Uranus (and five more candidates waiting to be announced) using the Subaru Telescope at Mauna Kea, Hawaii . After Herschel discovered Titania and Oberon on 11 January 1787, he subsequently believed that he had observed four other moons: two on 18 January and 9 February 1790, and two more on 28 February and 26 March 1794. It
3432-631: The first two moons, Titania and Oberon , in 1787. The other three ellipsoidal moons were discovered in 1851 by William Lassell ( Ariel and Umbriel ) and in 1948 by Gerard Kuiper ( Miranda ). These five may be in hydrostatic equilibrium . The remaining moons were discovered after 1985, either during the Voyager ;2 flyby mission or with the aid of advanced Earth -based telescopes. The first two moons to be discovered were Titania and Oberon , which were spotted by Sir William Herschel on January 11, 1787, six years after he had discovered
3510-400: The formation of smooth plains. Alternatively smooth plains may be ejecta blankets of the nearby impact craters. The most recent endogenous processes were mainly tectonic in nature and caused the formation of the canyons, which are actually giant cracks in the ice crust. The cracking of the crust was caused by the global expansion of Titania by about 0.7%. The presence of carbon dioxide on
3588-756: The horizon during the hemispheric winter. Uranus's irregular moons range in size from 120 to 200 km ( Sycorax ) to under 10 km ( S/2023 U 1 ). Due to the small number of known Uranian irregular moons, it is not yet clear which of them belong to groups with similar orbital characteristics. The only known group among Uranus's irregular moons is the Caliban group, which is clustered at orbital distances between 6–7 million km (3.7–4.3 million mi) and inclinations between 141°–144°. The Caliban group includes three retrograde moons, which are Caliban , S/2023 U 1, Stephano . The intermediate inclinations 60° < i < 140° are devoid of known moons due to
3666-402: The ice if some antifreeze like ammonia (in the form of ammonia hydrate ) or salt was present. Further melting may have led to the separation of ice from rocks and formation of a rocky core surrounded by an icy mantle. A layer of liquid water (ocean) rich in dissolved ammonia may have formed at the core–mantle boundary. The eutectic temperature of this mixture is 176 K (−97 °C). If
3744-411: The interior expanded. This caused strong extensional stresses in the moon's crust leading to cracking. Some of the present-day canyons may be a result of this. The process lasted for about 200 million years, implying that any endogenous activity ceased billions of years ago. The initial accretional heating together with continued decay of radioactive elements were probably strong enough to melt
3822-487: The later stages of its evolution. Like all major moons of Uranus, Titania probably formed from an accretion disk which surrounded the planet just after its formation. Infrared spectroscopy conducted from 2001 to 2005 revealed the presence of water ice as well as frozen carbon dioxide on Titania's surface, suggesting it may have a tenuous carbon dioxide atmosphere with a surface pressure of about 10 nanopascals (10 bar). Measurements during Titania's occultation of
3900-414: The leading hemisphere. Another possible source is the outgassing of the primordial CO 2 trapped by water ice in Titania's interior. The escape of CO 2 from the interior may be related to the past geological activity on this moon. Titania may be differentiated into a rocky core surrounded by an icy mantle . If this is the case, the radius of the core 520 kilometres (320 mi) is about 66% of
3978-400: The majority of craters formed. The resurfacing may have been either endogenic in nature, involving the eruption of fluid material from the interior ( cryovolcanism ), or, alternatively it may be due to blanking by the impact ejecta from nearby large craters. The grabens are probably the youngest geological features on Titania—they cut all craters and even smooth plains. The geology of Titania
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#17327768431194056-647: The moons. Desdemona may collide with Cressida within the next million years, and Cupid will likely collide with Belinda in the next 10 million years; Perdita and Juliet may be involved in later collisions. Because of this, the rings and inner moons may be under constant flux, with moons colliding and re-accreting on short timescales. Uranus has five major moons : Miranda , Ariel , Umbriel , Titania , and Oberon . They range in diameter from 472 km for Miranda to 1578 km for Titania. All these moons are relatively dark objects: their geometrical albedo varies between 30 and 50%, whereas their Bond albedo
4134-426: The only close-up images of Titania have been from the Voyager 2 probe, which photographed the moon during its flyby of Uranus in January 1986. Since the closest distance between Voyager 2 and Titania was only 365,200 km (226,900 mi), the best images of this moon have a spatial resolution of about 3.4 km (only Miranda and Ariel were imaged with a better resolution). The images cover about 40% of
4212-406: The origin of the coronae. Ariel appears to have the youngest surface with the fewest impact craters, while Umbriel's appears oldest. A past 3:1 orbital resonance between Miranda and Umbriel and a past 4:1 resonance between Ariel and Titania are thought to be responsible for the heating that caused substantial endogenic activity on Miranda and Ariel. One piece of evidence for such a past resonance
4290-522: The planet itself. Later, Herschel thought he had discovered up to six moons (see below) and perhaps even a ring. For nearly 50 years, Herschel's instrument was the only one with which the moons had been seen. In the 1840s, better instruments and a more favorable position of Uranus in the sky led to sporadic indications of satellites additional to Titania and Oberon. Eventually, the next two moons, Ariel and Umbriel , were discovered by William Lassell in 1851. The Roman numbering scheme of Uranus's moons
4368-429: The planet's equatorial plane, they (including Titania) are subject to an extreme seasonal cycle. Both northern and southern poles spend 42 years in a complete darkness, and another 42 years in continuous sunlight, with the sun rising close to the zenith over one of the poles at each solstice . The Voyager 2 flyby coincided with the southern hemisphere's 1986 summer solstice, when nearly the entire southern hemisphere
4446-420: The radius of the moon, and its mass is around 58% of the moon's mass—the proportions are dictated by moon's composition. The pressure in the center of Titania is about 0.58 GPa (5.8 kbar ). The current state of the icy mantle is unclear. If the ice contains enough ammonia or other antifreeze , Titania may have a subsurface ocean at the core–mantle boundary. The thickness of this ocean, if it exists,
4524-411: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Titania . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Titania&oldid=1240109603 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
4602-440: The second farthest from the planet among its five major moons after Oberon. Titania's orbit has a small eccentricity and is inclined very little relative to the equator of Uranus. Its orbital period is around 8.7 days, coincident with its rotational period . In other words, Titania is a synchronous or tidally locked satellite, with one face always pointing toward the planet. Titania's orbit lies completely inside
4680-425: The sky, at the closest about 7 degrees from it, during the hemispheric summer. Near the equator, it would be seen nearly due north or due south (depending on the season). At latitudes higher than 7°, the Sun would trace a circular path about 15 degrees in diameter in the sky, and never set during the hemispheric summer, moving to a position over the celestial equator during the Uranian equinox, and then invisible below
4758-465: The small moon Mab is a source of Uranus's outermost μ ring. There may be two additional small (2–7 km in radius) undiscovered shepherd moons located about 100 km exterior to Uranus's α and β rings . At 162 km, Puck is the largest of the inner moons of Uranus and the only one imaged by Voyager 2 in any detail. Puck and Mab are the two outermost inner satellites of Uranus. All inner moons are dark objects; their geometrical albedo
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#17327768431194836-470: The smooth plains situated on the leading hemisphere near Ursula crater and along some grabens are somewhat redder. There may be an asymmetry between the leading and trailing hemispheres; the former appears to be redder than the latter by 8%. However, this difference is related to the smooth plains and may be accidental. The reddening of the surfaces probably results from space weathering caused by bombardment by charged particles and micrometeorites over
4914-440: The subnebula is not known; however, the relatively high density of Titania and other Uranian moons compared to the moons of Saturn indicates that it may have been relatively water-poor. Significant amounts of nitrogen and carbon may have been present in the form of carbon monoxide and N 2 instead of ammonia and methane. The moons that formed in such a subnebula would contain less water ice (with CO and N 2 trapped as
4992-410: The surface of the moon. Water ice absorption bands are slightly stronger on Titania's leading hemisphere than on the trailing hemisphere. This is the opposite of what is observed on Oberon, where the trailing hemisphere exhibits stronger water ice signatures. The cause of this asymmetry is not known, but it may be related to the bombardment by charged particles from the magnetosphere of Uranus , which
5070-461: The surface suggests that Titania may have a tenuous seasonal atmosphere of CO 2 , much like that of the Jovian moon Callisto . Other gases, like nitrogen or methane , are unlikely to be present, because Titania's weak gravity could not prevent them from escaping into space. At the maximum temperature attainable during Titania's summer solstice (89 K), the vapor pressure of carbon dioxide
5148-535: The surface, but only 24% was photographed with the precision required for geological mapping . At the time of the flyby, the southern hemisphere of Titania (like those of the other moons) was pointed towards the Sun , so the northern (dark) hemisphere could not be studied. No other spacecraft has ever visited the Uranian system or Titania. One possibility , now discarded, was to send Cassini on from Saturn to Uranus in an extended mission. Another mission concept proposed
5226-413: The surface. Titania is thought to have lost a significant amount of carbon dioxide since its formation 4.6 billion years ago. Titania is thought to have formed from an accretion disc or subnebula; a disc of gas and dust that either existed around Uranus for some time after its formation or was created by the giant impact that most likely gave Uranus its large obliquity . The precise composition of
5304-518: The temperature dropped below this value, the ocean would have subsequently frozen. The freezing of the water would have caused the interior to expand, which may have been responsible for the formation of the majority of the canyons. However, the present knowledge of Titania's geological evolution is quite limited. Whereas more up to date analysis suggest that larger moons of Uranus are not only capable of having active subsurface oceans; but in fact; presumed to have subterranean oceans beneath them. So far
5382-439: The trailing hemisphere. The origin of the carbon dioxide is not completely clear. It might be produced locally from carbonates or organic materials under the influence of the solar ultraviolet radiation or energetic charged particles coming from the magnetosphere of Uranus. The latter process would explain the asymmetry in its distribution, because the trailing hemisphere is subject to a more intense magnetospheric influence than
5460-469: Was illuminated. Once every 42 years, when Uranus has an equinox and its equatorial plane intersects the Earth, mutual occultations of Uranus's moons become possible. In 2007–2008 a number of such events were observed including two occultations of Titania by Umbriel on August 15 and December 8, 2007. Titania is the largest and most massive Uranian moon, the eighth most massive moon in the Solar System, and
5538-518: Was in a state of flux for a considerable time, and publications hesitated between Herschel's designations (where Titania and Oberon are Uranus II and IV) and William Lassell's (where they are sometimes I and II). With the confirmation of Ariel and Umbriel, Lassell numbered the moons I through IV from Uranus outward, and this finally stuck. In 1852, Herschel's son John Herschel gave the four then-known moons their names. No other discoveries were made for almost another century. In 1948, Gerard Kuiper at
5616-500: Was influenced by two competing forces: impact crater formation and endogenic resurfacing. The former acted over the moon's entire history and influenced all surfaces. The latter processes were also global in nature, but active mainly for a period following the moon's formation. They obliterated the original heavily cratered terrain, explaining the relatively low number of impact craters on the moon's present-day surface. Additional episodes of resurfacing may have occurred later and led to
5694-453: Was initially referred to as "the first satellite of Uranus", and in 1848 was given the designation Uranus I by William Lassell , although he sometimes used William Herschel's numbering (where Titania and Oberon are II and IV). In 1851 Lassell eventually numbered all four known satellites in order of their distance from the planet by Roman numerals , and since then Titania has been designated Uranus III . Shakespeare's character's name
5772-485: Was taken by John Herschel , son of the discoverer of Uranus. Herschel, instead of assigning names from Greek mythology , named the moons after magical spirits in English literature : the fairies Oberon and Titania from William Shakespeare 's A Midsummer Night's Dream , and the sylph Ariel and gnome Umbriel from Alexander Pope 's The Rape of the Lock (Ariel is also a sprite in Shakespeare's The Tempest ). It
5850-416: Was taken from the Queen of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream . The names of all four satellites of Uranus then known were suggested by Herschel's son John in 1852, at the request of William Lassell , who had discovered the other two moons, Ariel and Umbriel , the year before. It is uncertain if Herschel devised the names, or if Lassell did so and then sought Herschel's permission. Titania
5928-502: Was the Uranus orbiter and probe concept, evaluated around 2010. Uranus was also examined as part of one trajectory for a precursor interstellar probe concept, Innovative Interstellar Explorer . The Uranus Orbiter and Probe mission architecture was identified as the highest priority for a NASA Flagship mission by the 2023–2032 Planetary Science Decadal Survey . The science questions motivating this prioritization include questions about
6006-458: Was therefore concluded that Herschel's four satellites were spurious, probably arising from the misidentification of faint stars in the vicinity of Uranus as satellites, and the credit for the discovery of Ariel and Umbriel was given to Lassell. Discovery of outer planet moons Although the first two Uranian moons were discovered in 1787, they were not named until 1852, a year after two more moons had been discovered. The responsibility for naming
6084-719: Was thus believed for many decades thereafter that Uranus had a system of six satellites, though the four latter moons were never confirmed by any other astronomer. Lassell 's observations of 1851, in which he discovered Ariel and Umbriel , however, failed to support Herschel's observations; Ariel and Umbriel, which Herschel certainly ought to have seen if he had seen any satellites besides Titania and Oberon, did not correspond to any of Herschel's four additional satellites in orbital characteristics. Herschel's four spurious satellites were thought to have sidereal periods of 5.89 days (interior to Titania), 10.96 days (between Titania and Oberon), 38.08 days, and 107.69 days (exterior to Oberon). It
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