The moons of Uranus are named after characters from Shakespeare plays and the literary works of which poet?

The planet Uranus has 27 known moons, most of which weren't discovered until the space age. All satellites of Uranus are named for characters in William Shakespeare plays or characters from Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock," according to International Astronomical Union guidelines.

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune, and both have bulk chemical compositions which differ from that of the larger gas giants Jupiter and Saturn.

The discovery of Uranus and its first two moons came from the astronomer: William Herschel. The English skygazer found Oberon and Titania in 1787, just six years after discovering the planet itself.

Astronomers knew of five moons before the Voyager 2 spacecraft launched in 1977. The probe found an additional 10 when it swung by the system in 1986.

No spacecraft has gone to Uranus since then, but astronomers have found new moons with the aid of generally improving telescope technology and techniques. The latest discoveries — Mab, Cupid and Margaret — were confirmed in 2003.

The two moons named exclusively after Pope's characters are Belinda and Umbriel who appear in his poem "The Rape of the Lock". Ariel is an "airy spirit" in Shakespeare's play "The Tempest". He is also a character in Alexander's Pope's "The Rape of the Lock".