Facts for Kids

Oberon is a big moon that orbits the planet Uranus! 🌌

It is the second-largest moon of Uranus and is quite far from it. Oberon is also known as Uranus IV because it is the fourth moon discovered around Uranus. It was named after a king in Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Oberon is about 1,523 kilometers (about 946 miles) wide, making it smaller than our Moon but bigger than many asteroids! 🌑

With all these exciting facts, Oberon is a fascinating place in our solar system!

Oberon takes a long time to orbit Uranus! 💫

It goes around the planet once every 13.5 Earth days. That’s more than two weeks! But it also spins on its axis very slowly, completing one rotation every 13.5 days too. ⏳

So, day and night last for about 13.5 days each! As a result, one side of the moon always faces Uranus, while the other side is in darkness. This unique rotation makes Oberon interesting to study!

Oberon is named after a character in William Shakespeare's play, "A Midsummer Night’s Dream." 👑 In this play, Oberon is the king of the fairies! Shakespeare's work has inspired many names of celestial objects. The name was chosen to honor literature and creativity! Many moons around Uranus are named after characters from Shakespeare's plays and other literary works, creating a connection between art and space! 🎭

Oberon has a very thin atmosphere! 🌬

️ It consists mainly of oxygen and hydrogen, but it is not breathable for humans. Because the atmosphere is so thin, there isn't really any weather like we have on Earth. ☁

️ The sky on Oberon is mostly dark, and temperatures are extremely cold! Winds are also very calm on the moon so it doesn’t have storms or clouds like we might see on other planets. It’s like a frozen world in space! ❄

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Oberon was discovered on January 11, 1787, by an astronomer named William Herschel. 🧑

‍🎤 He also discovered Uranus! During his observations, Herschel was amazed by the beautiful moons that surrounded the planet. Oberon is believed to have formed when a big cloud of gas and dust came together, similar to how many other moons were made in space. This process took a long time, billions of years ago! Scientists think that Oberon has gone through many changes since its birth. 🌠

Oberon is an icy moon covered with lots of craters! 🌌

It has a rough surface made of ice and rocks. The craters are created by asteroids or meteoroids crashing into it, just like how the Moon has craters. Oberon is darker than some other moons because of the materials on its surface. It is also very cold on Oberon, with temperatures reaching about -220 degrees Celsius (-364 degrees Fahrenheit)! 🥶

This makes it one of the coldest places in our solar system!

So far, most of our knowledge about Oberon comes from distant observations and one spacecraft visit! 🚀

NASA's Voyager 2 flew by Uranus and its moons, including Oberon, in 1986. Although Voyager 2 took amazing pictures and collected data, no spacecraft has landed on Oberon yet! Scientists are excited to learn more about this icy moon, and they hope to send more missions in the future to explore its mysteries! 📷

In the future, scientists want to explore Oberon more closely! 🔭

They hope to send new missions with advanced technology to learn about its surface and atmosphere. These missions could help us discover more about the icy moon's history and whether it could support any kind of life! 🌠

Exploring Oberon could teach us more about the mysteries of the universe. Keep your eyes on the stars; we might learn even more about this cool moon soon! 🌟

Oberon has some amazing features! 🎇

Its surface is made up of many large craters and some canyons, and scientists believe it has icy mountains too! The largest crater is called Shakespeare, which is about 170 kilometers (or 106 miles) wide! There are also lighter areas that indicate ice may be hiding underneath the surface. Some areas appear smooth, while others are rough and bumpy! This mix of features makes Oberon a very diverse moon to explore! 🌋

Oberon is the second-largest moon of Uranus, after Titania! 🌙

Titania is about 1,577 kilometers (980 miles) wide, making it just a bit bigger than Oberon. Other smaller moons, like Miranda and Umbriel, have different surface features and compositions. Some moons are more rugged, while others seem smoother. Each moon around Uranus tells its own story, and studying the differences helps scientists understand how they were formed. Isn’t that neat? 🌌