Quick facts
Parent planet
Diameter (mean)
43 km
Mass
5.4 × 10¹⁶ kg
7.3e-07 Moon masses
Mean orbital radius
53,760 km
Orbital period
0.376 Earth days
Discovery year
1986
Discoverer
Richard J. Terrile (Voyager 2)
Naming origin
Tragic heroine of Hamlet
Surface conditions
Ophelia is the outer shepherd moon of Uranus's epsilon ring — the most prominent of the Uranian rings. With Cordelia (the inner shepherd), Ophelia confines the ring through gravitational interaction with the ring particles.
Missions and observations
Every Uranus-system mission has had an opportunity to image or characterize Ophelia. The list below is the Uranus-system mission catalog; specific Ophelia encounters are documented in mission archives.
| Mission | Year at Uranus | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
Voyager 2 NASA |
1986 | Completed |
Naming etymology
Ophelia was the tragic young lover of Hamlet in Shakespeare's play, driven to madness and drowning. Adopted by the IAU in 1988.
Methodology & sources
Diameter, mass, and orbital parameters from JPL Solar System Dynamics — Physical Parameters. Discovery year and discoverer from the JPL Satellite Discovery Circumstances. Naming etymology from the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature. Agent-matched moon pages use the matching Mungomash team avatar in the hero; non-agent moons are text-only.