Discovery of Sycorax

Sycorax is the largest of the irregular moons of Uranus, about 150 kilometers across, and was discovered in September 1997 by Brett Gladman and colleagues using the Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory, on the same night as Caliban. It orbits Uranus in a wide, retrograde orbit, which suggests that it was captured by the planet's gravity, perhaps from the outer solar system. Its surface appears light red in color. It is named after the witch Sycorax in Shakespeare's The Tempest, who is the mother of Caliban.

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