The planet Uranus contains 27 moons, the smallest and closest of which is called “Miranda” and its diameter is less than 500 km. RT.
The surface of Miranda, also called Uranus V, is unusual in that it contains areas with a geological patchwork of rifted terrain to the point where one might think Miranda is made of pieces stuck together, and that adhesion appears inconsistent. Reach..
In a recent study published in Planetary Science JournalTwo researchers are headed by the Institute’s Carl Sagan Center SETI In California, they investigated the possible origin of rock deposits on Uranus’ moon Miranda.
Slag is defined as a heterogeneous layer that covers rocks and consists of dust, soil, and thick, broken rocks. Surface material on the Moon and Mars is usually referred to as rockstone or rhyolite, in contrast to soil on Earth, for example soil provides the nutrients and minerals needed for growth, while rock can be considered dead soil..
The purpose of this study was to determine the internal structure of Miranda, and in particular its internal temperature, which can determine whether or not Miranda has an internal ocean..
“It is unlikely that Miranda would have maintained a subsurface ocean to this day because of its small size,” said Dr. Chloe Bedingfield, a scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. However, the thick layer of rock acts like an insulating blanket and trap. Warming within Miranda and increasing the age of the subsurface ocean for some time. This trapped heat also increases long-term internal activity in Miranda, such as geological activity forming one or more Miranda peaks or a global rift system.“.
The results of this study identified three possible sources of the thick Miranda layer. First, the Moon might be covered with dust following it collided with a large cosmic body, which ejected a large amount of material, which later settled on the surface in a layer of equal thickness and matter. However, on the visible side of the Moon, there are no traces of such a large impact, so it will not be possible to confirm or deny this hypothesis yet..
Second, glacial volcanoes might have been a source of nutrients during a period when Miranda was most geologically active..
The third and most likely source is that Miranda “picked up” dust from the surrounding outer space. The origin of the dust might be the collision of Uranus with a large cosmic body, following which a large cloud of small debris was formed..
Dr Bedingfield said: “If material from Uranus’ rings is the primary source of Miranda rocks, this might indicate that Miranda formed from ring material and/or that Miranda migrated through the rings in its early history. In these scenarios, however, future modeling work is needed to further investigate these possibilities“.
Miranda was first discovered on February 16, 1948 by Gerard B. Kuiper at the McDonald Observatory in West Texas, and only visited by NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986. This close encounter revealed a chaotic and fascinating world of craters, valleys and fissures. surface, with scientists continuing to debate the processes behind the fascinating features of the young moon to this day..
The new paper stresses that more studies are needed to better understand the potential for thicker Miranda rocks, other than Uranus’ ring deposits..