Shakespeare Mooned Me Trivia Quiz

Answer: Juliet

Juliet is an irregular shaped moon of Uranus that was discovered on January 3, 1986 using images taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, such as the image used in this quiz. The small moon has an average diameter of approximately 100 km (62 mi). The moon was named after Juliet, the main female character of William Shakespeare's famous tragedy "Romeo and Juliet".

Answer: Puck

Puck is one of the largest of Uranus' irregular shaped moons. It has an average diameter of 162 km (100 mi). Puck was discovered on December 30, 1985. As with Juliet, it was also discovered using images taken by Voyager 2. Puck was named after a sprite who appears in William Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

In ice hockey, the object of the game is to shoot a puck (a rubber disc) into the opposing teams goal.

Answer: Ophelia

Ophelia is one of the closest known moons of Uranus. It was discovered on January 20, 1986. As with Juliet and Puck, Ophelia was also discovered using images taken by Voyager 2. Ophelia has an average diameter of 43 km (26 mi), roughly the distance from New York City to Connecticut. Ophelia was named after a character who appears in William Shakespeare's tragedy, "Hamlet". Ophelia was a love interest of Hamlet who was killed when she fell out of a tree into a brook where she drowned.

Answer: Oberon

Oberon is the second largest moon of Uranus with a diameter of 1,522 km (945 mi). It was discovered by Sir William Herschel on January 11, 1787. William Herschel is also credited for discovering Uranus itself on March 13, 1781. There is speculation that Herschel originally wanted to name the planet Uranus after King George III, however the international community stuck to tradition and named it after a Greek/Roman deity. Beginning in 1852, Uranus' moons began to be named after characters found in plays by William Shakespeare. Oberon was named after the King of The Fairies from "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

Answer: Prospero

The small Uranian moon Prospero was discovered on July 18, 1999 by a team of astronomers at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii. Astronomers would compare images taken by the telescope over several hours. They discovered the small object in the center (Prospero) was moving towards the left. Prospero was named after the main character from "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare. Prospero was a sorcerer from Milan who had been exiled by his brother to a small island in the Mediterranean Sea.

Answer: Miranda

Miranda was discovered on February 16, 1948, by astronomer Gerard Kuiper, the man whom the Kuiper Belt is named after. Miranda is the smallest of Uranus' five large spherical moons. It has a diameter of approximately 470 km (292 mi). Miranda is famous for its rugged terrain as seen in the photo taken by Voyager 2. Miranda's name comes from the daughter of Prospero in William Shakespeare's "The Tempest", who was exiled along with her father.

Answer: Cupid

Cupid was discovered on August 25, 2003, by American astronomers Mark R. Showalter and Jack J. Lissauer. Cupid was found using images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. The moon is tiny, estimated to be 18 km (11 mi) in diameter. Cupid is a character from a lesser known Shakespearean play known as "Timon of Athens". Cupid is also the name of the Roman god of love, who is famous for having angel-like wings and using a bow and arrow to spread love across the mortal realm.

Answer: Ariel

Ariel, Uranus' fourth largest moon, was discovered on October 24, 1851 by British astronomer William Lassell. It has a diameter of approximately 1,158 km (720 mi). In William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" there is a character known as Ariel, who is a spiritual servant of the main character Prospero. Ariel is also the name of the main character in the Walt Disney animated film "The Little Mermaid", which was released in 1989.

This image of Ariel was taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft.

Answer: Umbriel

Umbriel is Uranus' third largest moon and has the darkest surface of the large Uranian satellites. Umbra is a latin word meaning shadow or darkness. Umbriel was discovered along with Ariel on October 24, 1851 by William Lassell. It is slightly larger than Ariel with a diameter of 1,169 km (726 mi).

While Ariel is the name of a character from a William Shakespeare play, both of the Uranian moons Ariel and Umbriel were actually named after characters that appeared in the poem "The Rape of the Lock", which was written by British author Alexander Pope in 1712.

As with Ariel, this image of Umbriel was also taken by Voyager 2.

Answer: Titania

Titania was discovered by Sir William Herschel on January 11, 1787. It is Uranus' largest moon with a diameter of approximately 1,577 km (980 mi). The photograph was taken by Voyager 2 and was edited to show the moon's color by NASA. It is important for astronomers not to confuse Titania with Titan, the largest moon of Saturn and the only moon known to have a thick atmosphere. Titania was named after the Queen of The Fairies in William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".