Ophelia

Ophelia

Ophelia was first discovered on January 20, 1986, during the Voyager 2 spacecraft's close encounter with the planet. This moon, which is named after a character from Shakespeare's "Hamlet," is relatively small, with an estimated diameter of about 16 kilometers (10 miles). Ophelia's orbit is noteworthy, as it places the moon among the "shepherd moons" of Uranus. These shepherd moons play a pivotal role in shaping Uranus's narrow epsilon ring by gravitationally corralling the ring's particles within a confined region. While Voyager 2's observations in 1986 provided crucial initial insights, no dedicated missions have been dispatched to explore Ophelia further. Ongoing research aims to unravel the moon's precise composition and origin, with current theories suggesting a composition comprised mainly of water ice and rocky material. The moon is part of the "Cordelia Group", which includes other small moons with analogous orbits and characteristics.