Stephano

Stephano was discovered on July 18, 1999, by astronomer Brett J. Gladman and his team using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii. Much like its namesake from William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest," Stephano is an irregular moon, characterized by its irregular shape and distant, inclined orbit around Uranus. Stephano orbits Uranus in a peculiar retrograde fashion, which means it moves in the opposite direction of the planet's rotation. This orbital characteristic sets it apart from the more regular and closer-in moons of Uranus. Scientific exploration of Stephano has been primarily conducted through ground-based telescopes, with no dedicated missions launched to study it further. Its composition and origin are still subjects of ongoing research, although it is believed to be primarily composed of water ice and rocky material, a typical composition for many moons in the outer solar system. Stephano is part of a group of irregular moons of Uranus, sharing this unique orbital pattern with moons like Caliban and Sycorax.