New Uranian Satellites
The discovery of two new distant Uranian satellites (designated S/1997 U 1 and S/1997 U 2) was announced on IAUC 6764 and IAUC 6765.The plot below shows the orbits of the new satellites in relation to Uranus. It is based on the orbits published on IAUC 6869 and IAUC 6870. It must not be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams.
In this view, the new satellites are moving counterclockwise. The position of each object is marked at 10-day intervals, the first point plotted being 1997 Sept. 9, the last being 1999 Apr. 12 (for S/1997 U 1) and 2001 Mar. 22 (for S/1997 U 2). The non-closure of the apparent orbit of S/1997 U 1 is a geometric effect due to the relative motions of the earth and Uranus. The "weird" apparent orbit of S/1997 U 2 is also due to the same effect--the effect is magnified for this object due to its extremely long orbital period (1289 days). The orbit of the outermost regular satellite (Uranus IV, Oberon) is shown by the small ellipse centered on (0,0). Uranus is represented by the dot at (0,0)--the disk is magnified two times. North is up and east is to the left.
