(ORDO NEWS) — In January 1986, NASA‘s Voyager 2 spacecraft became the first man-made object to reach the planet Uranus . As of April 2022, Voyager 2 remains the only Earth probe to fly past Uranus.
While briefly studying the planet’s system, Voyager 2 paid close attention to Miranda (pictured above), Uranus’ closest moon, which has a highly deformed surface.
Miranda doomed to suffer
The image (picture below) of part of Miranda was obtained by Voyager 2 on January 24, 1986, when the device was at a distance of 36,250 kilometers from the satellite. This photograph with a clear filter shows a surface that is completely atypical for large objects in the solar system.
Numerous ridges and valleys are clearly visible in this 660-meter-per-pixel image, a topography that has been provided by continuous compression tectonics (due to its close proximity to the planet).
Many deep fissures run across the ridges and valleys. The largest ledge sticking out above the fault is visible below and to the right of the center of the second image; most likely, it was formed as a result of the contact of fault blocks when they rubbed against each other (some blocks sank, and some rose above the average height of the satellite surface).
The depth of some faults on the surface of Miranda is five kilometers, which is significantly more than the maximum depth of the Grand Canyon in Arizona , which is 1.8 kilometers.
Orbital resonances and tidal forces continue to have an extremely aggressive effect on Miranda’s surface. In fact, Uranus and its moons are doing everything they can to destroy Miranda. Most likely, in a few million years, Miranda will still be torn apart, turning into several small satellites in orbit of the gas (ice) giant.
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