Quick facts
Parent planet
Diameter (mean)
165 km
Mass
2.5 × 10¹⁸ kg
3.4e-05 Moon masses
Mean orbital radius
12,179,000 km
Orbital period
1288.3 Earth days
Discovery year
1997
Discoverer
Philip D. Nicholson, Brett J. Gladman et al.
Naming origin
Witch in The Tempest, mother of Caliban
Surface conditions
Sycorax is the largest of Uranus's irregular outer moons, a captured body 165 km across in a highly inclined retrograde orbit. The deep red surface color is typical of Centaur and Kuiper Belt objects, consistent with capture from the outer solar system.
Missions and observations
Every Uranus-system mission has had an opportunity to image or characterize Sycorax. The list below is the Uranus-system mission catalog; specific Sycorax encounters are documented in mission archives.
| Mission | Year at Uranus | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
Voyager 2 NASA |
1986 | Completed |
Naming etymology
Sycorax was the absent mother of Caliban and former ruler of the island in Shakespeare's The Tempest, mentioned but never seen. Adopted by the IAU in 1998.
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.