| NASA Center: |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Image # : |
PIA-01490 |
|---|
| Date : |
01/25/1986
|
|---|
|
Title
Miranda as seen by Voyager 2
Full Description
Flying by in early 1986, Voyager 2 captured this picture of
Miranda, which enabled scientists to study this moon of Uranus
in much greater detail than ever before. Discovered in 1948 by
Gerard Peter Kuiper, Miranda is named for the daughter of the
wily Prospero in Shakespeare's "The Tempest." It is the eleventh
known satellite of Uranus and the innermost large moon of Uranus
It was necessary that Voyager 2 passed by Miranda, not
for scientific reasons, but simply for the gravity assist it
needed to go on to Neptune. Due to the position of the entire
Solar System, Miranda provided the energy to throw Voyager 2 to
Neptune. Before Voyager, Miranda was largely ignored as it is
not the largest moon and did not seem to have any other
outstanding qualities. Fortunately, however, Voyager passed
close enough to Miranda to provide scientists with fascinating
photographs that captivated astronomers. About half ice and
half rock, Miranda's surface has terraced layers that indicate
both older and new surfaces coexisting. Since the mixing of
ancient and recent surfaces is rare in planetary geology,
scientists have postulated two explanations for the different
ages of the numerous valleys and cliffs on Miranda. One theory
is that Miranda could have shattered as many as five times and
was then reassembled. Another hypothesis is that partly
melted ice upwells forced new surfaces to emerge.
Keywords
Miranda Uranus Voyager Kuiper Grand Tour
Subject Category
Voyager-Galileo, Uranus Moons,
Reference Numbers
- Center:
JPL
- Center Number:
PIA-01490
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2003-000005
Source Information
- Creator/Photographer: NASA
- Original Source: Digital
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
(Pixels) | Size
(KBytes) |
| Thumbnail |
JPEG |
198 |
200 |
19 |
| Small |
JPEG |
1581 |
1600 |
504 |
| Medium |
JPEG |
3294 |
3333 |
1,452 |
| Large |
JPEG |
6588 |
6666 |
4,756 |
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Updated Aug 20, 2009
• History Questions: NASA History Office
• Responsible NASA Official: Steve Garber
• Author: Michael Hahn. Editor: Dwayne A. Day
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