All of Uranus's inner moons (those observed by Voyager 2) appear to be roughly half water ice and half rock. The composition of the moons outside the orbit of Oberon remains unknown, but they are likely captured asteroids.

Uranus has 27 known moons. While most of the satellites orbiting other planets take their names from Greek or Roman mythology, Uranus' moons are unique in being named for characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.

In the outer solar system, the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune have dozens of moons. As these planets grew in the early solar system, they were able to capture smaller objects with their large gravitational fields.

Jan 9, 2025 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.

While most of the satellites orbiting other planets take their names from various mythologies, Uranus' moons are unique in being named for Shakespearean characters, along with a couple of the moons being named for characters from the works of Alexander Pope.

During NASA's Cassini mission's final distant encounter with Saturn's giant moon Titan, the spacecraft captured the enigmatic moon's north polar landscape of lakes and seas, which are filled with liquid methane and ethane.

Jan 9, 2025 · Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, and the third largest planet in our solar system. It appears to spin sideways.

Oberon is the second largest moon of Uranus. Discovered in 1787, little was known about this moon until Voyager 2 passed it during its flyby of Uranus in January 1986. Oberon is heavily cratered―similar to Umbriel―especially when compared to three other moons of Uranus: Ariel, Titania and Miranda.

Dec 14, 2012 · Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune. At closest approach, the spacecraft came within 50,600 miles (81,500 km) of Uranus's cloud tops. The thousands of images and reams of scientific data Voyager 2 sent back revealed a complex system of rings, moons, and an unusual magnetosphere.

Uranus has 27 known moons, and they are named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.