The Solar System The Inner Planets The Outer Planets Inner and Outer Planets Compared Solar System Formation Table of Planets Solar System's Largest Objects Space A to Z Your Weight in Space Stars Galaxies The Milky Way
The Inner Planets The Sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars
The Outer Planets The Moon Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Dwarf Planets Ceres Pluto Haumea Makemake Eris Comets Small BODIES Halley Hale-Bopp Shoemaker-Levy Asteroids Meteors
Exploring Space The Space Shuttle Voyager Space Missions List Astronomy Famous Astronomers History of Astronomy Hubble Space Telescope James Webb Telescope
Space A to Z Your Weight in Space Useful Links Contact Us Bob the Alien on Facebook Bob the Alien on Twitter
Uranus Menu  

Puck, a moon of Uranus

Perdita
Puck
Mab

Puck from Voyager 2, taken on 24th January 1986, image credit: NASA
Classification
Natural satellite of Uranus
Average distance from Uranus
86,000 km
53,438 miles
Diameter across equator
162 km
101 miles
Time to orbit Uranus
18 hours
Year of Discovery
1985
Origin of Name
A mischievous sprite in Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Also known as Robin Goodfellow.

Puck is one of the 27 moons of Uranus. It orbits the planet at an average distance of 86,000 kilometres (53,440 miles). Puck has a diameter of 162 kilometres (101 miles) and takes approximately 18 hours to complete an orbit of the planet. it is classed as an inner moon and orbits Uranus in the same direction as the planet spins.

Puck appears to be made of dark materials and is heavily cratered. It has three craters large enough to have names. These are Bogle, Butz and Lob, named after mischievous goblin-like creatures from Scottish, English and German folklore. The word "bogey-man" comes from Bogle!


Why is the moon Puck called Puck?

Puck derives its name from a mischievous sprite in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was written in1595 or 1596. Throughout the play, Puck uses his magical abilities to play pranks and stir up chaos. He meddles with love potions, leading characters to fall for unintended targets, mimics voices to confuse others, and famously transforms the head of the character Bottom into that of an ass (donkey). In the play, Puck is also known as Robin Goodfellow.

Many of Uranus' moons are named after characters from Shakespeare's works, and Puck is one of three figures from A Midsummer Night's Dream to feature amongst Uranus' moons. The other two are Titania and Oberon, the largest moons of Uranus and the first to be discovered.


Perdita
Puck
Mab
Twitter X logo Facebook logo Email icon
© 2000 - 2024 SULTANA BARBECUE