Sycorax (moon)

Sycorax (moon)

Sycorax is the largest irregular moon of the planet Uranus. It is about 157 kilometers across. Sycorax was discovered on September 6, 1997, using the Hale Telescope in California. Unlike most of Uranus's moons, Sycorax moves in a backward, uneven path around the planet and stays much farther away. Scientists believe Sycorax may have been pulled in by Uranus's gravity instead of forming with the planet.

Discovery and Naming

Sycorax was discovered by scientists using the 200-inch Hale Telescope, along with another moon called Caliban. At first, it was called S/1997 U 2. Later, it was officially named Uranus XVII after Sycorax, who is Caliban's mother in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. This name follows the rule of naming all of Uranus's moons after characters from Shakespeare's plays or Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock.

Orbit

Sycorax orbits Uranus from a very far distance, more than 20 times farther than the moon Oberon. Its path goes the opposite way and is tilted and stretched out. Scientists think Sycorax may have a similar beginning with two other moons, Setebos and Prospero, but Sycorax looks different because it has a much redder color than the others, which are usually gray.

The picture shows the paths of the moons that orbit Uranus backward, with lines showing how stretched out their paths are.

Physical characteristics

Sycorax is one of the largest moons around Uranus. It is about 157 kilometers wide and is the largest of Uranus's unusual moons. It appears as a light-red color when seen with visible light.

We believe Sycorax turns once roughly every 7 hours. We do not know exactly where its north pole points, but we have some ideas about its position.

Origin

Scientists think Sycorax may have been pulled in by Uranus instead of forming there. We do not know exactly how this happened, but it probably needed to slow down somehow. This could have happened by moving through gas around the young Uranus or by bumping into other objects.

Exploration

Sycorax has not been visited by a space probe. Since its discovery, scientists have studied it using telescopes from Earth.