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Oberon is a Uranus moon, discovered in January 11, 1787, by British astronomer Frederick William Herschel. Oberon is characterized by a heavily accidental and cratered surface, probably the result of constant impacts by comets and meteors wandering erratically throughout space. Given its enormous distance from the Sun, the average temperature in Oberon is exceedingly freezing, being estimated in approximately –200º. One of Uranus five major moons, Oberon is the second largest, after Titania, and the second darkest, after Umbriel.
Since its discovery, the field of astronomy has expanded greatly its knowledge about Oberon, although a lot of gaps do exist, and some lines below, I explain to you why. Orbiting Uranus from a distance of about 585.000 km, Oberon is the 9th largest moon in the Solar System, being expressively smaller than Earth’s moon. It is strongly believed that, among its components, water ice may exist in a somewhat prevalent scale. With generic geological features, Oberon has little to offer in terms of geography, and even less to outstand itself from other more curious and interesting moons in the Solar System. With craters and accidental geographical features known as chasmata – which would be Earth’s equivalent of deep and profound precipices, valleys and canyons –, Oberon’s surface is mainly irregular, but has a consistency and a uniformity typical of its structure, although several of these chasmata has been mapped, named and calculated.
Given its distance from Earth, full exploration of Oberon has never been seriously speculated nor considered. Since all of its known photographs have been transmitted by Voyager 2 during the eighties, and even then, taken at a colossal distance of approximately 470.000 km, what we really know about this mysterious Uranian moon – although it comprises a vast collection of information, for sure – still remains little, if compared to other moons in the Solar System. Given the fact that the dark nature of Oberon was a challenge to full visibility, and additional obstacles included distance, perspective and the axial moon’s inclination when the photos were taken, it became virtually impossible to decipher the vast majority of its surface. Unfortunately, there are no plans in any space station in the world today to undergo a more serious mission to study Oberon, or to examine the Uranian system as a whole. As we have no choice on this matter, apparently Oberon will remain, at least partially, a very promising mystery in the records of astronomy.
Wagner
Given its distance from Earth, full exploration of Oberon has never been seriously speculated nor considered. Since all of its known photographs have been transmitted by Voyager 2 during the eighties, and even then, taken at a colossal distance of approximately 470.000 km, what we really know about this mysterious Uranian moon – although it comprises a vast collection of information, for sure – still remains little, if compared to other moons in the Solar System. Given the fact that the dark nature of Oberon was a challenge to full visibility, and additional obstacles included distance, perspective and the axial moon’s inclination when the photos were taken, it became virtually impossible to decipher the vast majority of its surface. Unfortunately, there are no plans in any space station in the world today to undergo a more serious mission to study Oberon, or to examine the Uranian system as a whole. As we have no choice on this matter, apparently Oberon will remain, at least partially, a very promising mystery in the records of astronomy.
Wagner
