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Portia (moon)

Portia
Discovery
Discovered by Voyager 2
Discovered in 1986
Orbital characteristics
Mean radius 66097 km
Eccentricity  ?
Orbital period 0.513196d
Inclination 0.09°
Is a satellite of Uranus
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter 135.2 km
Surface area  ? km2
Mass Unknown kg
Mean density Unknown g/cm3
Surface gravity  ? m/s2
Rotation period  ?
Axial tilt  ?°
Albedo 0.07
Surface temp.
min mean max
 ? K  ? K  ? K
Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa
Portia (por'-sha) is a moon of Uranus. Very little is known about it. It is named after Portia, the heroine of William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice. Since it is below Uranus' synchronous orbit radius, Portia's orbit is slowly decaying due to tidal forces and it will one day break up into a planetary ring or impact on Uranus' surface.

It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 1986-01-03 , and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 1. It is also designated Uranus XII.

Last updated: 05-30-2005 03:13:23
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