Rosalind is an inner satellite of the planet Uranus.
Rosalind is the 12th largest Moon of Uranus and the 56th largest moon in the Solar System currently known.
Discovery
Rosalind was discovered by Stephen P. Synnott, who is an American astronomer and Voyager scientist, from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 13 January 1986.
Naming
The moon was given the temporary designation S/1986 U4.
The moon was named after the daughter of the banished Duke in William Shakespeare's play "As You Like It".
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600.
As You Like It follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncle's court, accompanied by her cousin Celia and Touchstone the court jester, to find safety and eventually love in the Forest of Arden. Historically, critical response has varied, with some critics finding the work of lesser quality than other Shakespearean works and some finding the play a work of great merit.
Stats
Diameter (mean): 72 ± 12 km
Semi-major axis: 69,927 km
Orbital Period: 0.558 days
Orbit
Rosalind takes as long to rotate on its axis as it does to make one orbit of Uranus; and therefore always keeps the same hemisphere pointed to Uranus.
Rosalind belongs to a group of satellites called the Portia Group, which includes Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Portia, Juliet, Cupid, Belinda and Perdita. These satellites have similar orbits and photometric properties.
Rosalind is very close to a 3:5 orbital resonance with Cordelia.
Physical characteristics
Other than its orbit, diameter of 72 km and geometric albedo of 0.08, virtually nothing is known about Rosalind.
In the Voyager 2 images Rosalind appears as an almost spherical object. The ratio of axes of Rosalind's prolate spheroid is 0.8-1.0. Its surface is grey in color.
Exploration Status
No close-up image of Rosalind has been photographed.
No mission is planned in the foreseeable future.
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