Bianca

 

in astronomy, one of the natural satellites, or moons, of Uranus.

There is also an asteroid called 218 Bianca.

Bianca

Discovery
Discovered by:	Bradford A. Smith / Voyager 2
Discovery date:	January 23, 1986
Orbital characteristics
Mean radius of orbit:	59,165.550 ± 0.045 km[1]
Eccentricity:	0.00092 ± 0.000118[1]
Orbital period:	0.434578986 ± 0.000000022 d[1]
Inclination:	0.19308 ± 0.054° (to Uranus' equator)[1]
Satellite of:	Uranus
Physical characteristics
Dimensions:	64 × 46 × 46 km[2]
Mean radius:	27 ± 2 km[2]
Surface area:	~8300 km²[3]
Volume:	~71,000 km³[3]
Mass:	~9.2×1016 kg[3]
Mean density:	~1.3 g/cm³ (assumed)
Equatorial surface gravity:	~0.0086 m/s2[3]
Escape velocity:	~0.022 km/s[3]
Rotation period:	synchronous[2]
Axial tilt:	zero[2]
Albedo:	0.08 ± 0.01 [4]
Temperature:	~64 K[3]

Bianca (bee-aang'-kə, IPA: /biˈɑŋkə/) is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 1986-01-23, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 9.^[5] It was named after the sister of Katherine in Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew. It is also designated Uranus VIII.^[6]

Bianca belongs to Portia Group of satellites, which also includes Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda and Perdita.^[4] These satellites have similar orbits and photometric properties.^[4] Unfortunately, other than its orbit,^[1] radius of 27 km^[2] and geometric albedo of 0.08^[4] virtually nothing is known about it.

At the Voyager 2 images Bianca appears as an elongated object, the major axis pointing towards Uranus. The ratio of axises of the Bianca's prolate spheroid is 0.7 ± 0.2.^[2] Its surface is grey in color.^[2]

References

External links

Bianca Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration

Uranus
Moons	Ariel · Belinda · Bianca · Caliban · Cordelia · Cressida · Cupid · Desdemona · Ferdinand · Francisco · Juliet · Mab · Margaret · Miranda · Oberon · Ophelia · Perdita · Portia · Propero · Puck · Rosalind · Setebos · Stephano · Sycorax · Titania · Trinculo · Umbriel Other: Arieal features · Miranda features · Oberon features · Titania features · Puck Craters · Umbriel craters · Miranda's Verona Rupes · Umbriel Crater Wunda
Characteristics	Atmosphere · Rings of Uranus
Discovery	William Herschel · William Lassell
Other	Exploration · 15 Orionis · Uranus-crosser asteroid · Mu ring · In fiction · Voyager program · Voyager 2

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