Francisco (moon) Facts for Kids

Francisco was first spotted by scientists in 2003. A team led by Matthew J. Holman and another team led by Brett J. Gladman found it. They used pictures that were actually taken back in 2001.

When it was first found, it had a temporary name: S/2001 U 3. Later, it was officially named Uranus XXII.

How Francisco Got Its Name

Like many moons of Uranus, Francisco is named after a character from a play by William Shakespeare. Francisco is a lord in Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

Francisco's Orbit: A Dance Around Uranus

Francisco travels around Uranus in a path that is not perfectly round. This path is called an orbit. It takes about 266.56 days for Francisco to complete one trip around Uranus. That's almost as long as an Earth year!

Francisco's orbit is also tilted quite a bit. It's at an angle of 145 degrees compared to the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the flat plane where most planets orbit the Sun.

What Francisco Is Like: Size and More

Francisco is a very small moon. Scientists estimate its average diameter to be about 22 km. To give you an idea, that's roughly the distance you might drive in 15-20 minutes on a highway.

Because it's so small, its gravity is very weak. If you could stand on Francisco, you would weigh almost nothing! Its surface is also very dark, reflecting only about 4% of the sunlight that hits it. This is similar to the color of charcoal.