Hamlet of Oberon
Explanation:
What's in a name?
Since 1919, the
International Astronomical Union has been
charged with the task of establishing
"conventional" nomenclature for planets, satellites,
and surface features.
For the remote
Uranian system of moons, namesakes from
Shakespearean works have been chosen.
Thus Oberon, king of the mid-summer night fairies, is
also
Uranus' most distant and second
largest moon.
Hamlet is the tragically dark, large and princely
crater on its surface (right of center).
The above image represents known surface
features of Oberon and
was constructed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) based on data from
NASA's robot explorer Voyager 2.
In 1986, Voyager 2
flew through the Uranian system -
so far it has been
the only spacecraft to do so.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
