Most of the planets, constellations, and heavenly bodies we see in the sky through our telescopes are named after the gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines of the old classics, mostly the old Roman classics. But there are also some heavenly bodies out there that are named after Shakespeare's characters (Pope's too, but who cares?). The
planet Uranus has 27 moons, or satellites, named Cordellia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Mab, Belinda, Perdita, Puck, Cupid, Miranda, Francisco, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberan, Caliban, Stephano, Trinculo, Sycorax, Margaret, Prospero, Setebos, and Ferdinand. Most of these moons are very very small.
But they are there, and the fact that they were named mostly after Shakespearean characters shows that while most heavenly bodies are named after the old classical traditions, Shakespeare is part of an important tradition too.
This picture is one I got from the
Astronomy Picture of the Day site, which has lots of lovely astronomy pictures and information.
