Quick facts
Parent planet
Diameter (mean)
50 km
Mass
8.5 × 10¹⁶ kg
1.2e-06 Moon masses
Mean orbital radius
16,276,000 km
Orbital period
1978.3 Earth days
Discovery year
1999
Discoverer
Matthew J. Holman, John J. Kavelaars et al.
Naming origin
Sorcerer protagonist of The Tempest
Surface conditions
Prospero is a retrograde outer irregular moon of Uranus, captured from the outer solar system.
Missions and observations
Every Uranus-system mission has had an opportunity to image or characterize Prospero. The list below is the Uranus-system mission catalog; specific Prospero encounters are documented in mission archives.
| Mission | Year at Uranus | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
Voyager 2 NASA |
1986 | Completed |
Naming etymology
Prospero was the sorcerer-protagonist of Shakespeare's The Tempest, exiled Duke of Milan. Adopted by the IAU in 2001.
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. Stylized SVG hero composed from NASA / JPL imagery as visual reference; no photographs are reproduced.