Miranda is the smallest and innermost moon of Uranus, with a rugged, craggy terrain and a cliff over three miles high. It is the most geologically active moon in the Uranian system, with canyons and rises called coronae. Miranda’s geological activity is caused by tidal heating, and it has a pole-to-pole diameter longer than the equatorial diameter. Some scientists have called it “the strangest moon in the solar system.”
Miranda is a moon of Uranus, the smallest and innermost. Miranda is about 1/8 the size of our moon, 290 miles across (235.8km), but is still spherical. Miranda is unusual among the solar system’s moons in that its most immediately apparent features aren’t the craters, but its rugged, craggy terrain, including a cliff over three miles high. Miranda is similar to what a golf ball might look like when placed in a blender. This moon was first discovered by Gerard Kuiper in 1948.
From ground and space telescopes, Miranda looks just like a blurry spot, but in January 1986 the Voyager 2 spacecraft made a close flyby, giving us detailed images that are now standard for sections on Miranda in astronomy textbooks.
Miranda is the most geologically active moon in the Uranian system, and was much more active in the past. In addition to huge cliffs, it is criss-crossed by numerous canyons and rises called coronae. The likely source of Miranda’s geological activity is tidal heating, caused by its eccentric orbit.
Miranda is unusual in being one of the few solar system bodies to have a pole-to-pole diameter longer than the equatorial diameter. This is likely caused by its intense geological activity and internal mixing in the past. Another theory is that Miranda suffered a gigantic impact in the past, which blew it apart, which then reformed from the mutual gravitational pull. Its crests are said to have a “sawtooth” pattern.
At four degrees, Miranda’s orbital inclination is about 10 times greater than Uran’s other moons, and it’s quite out of the ordinary for a body orbiting so close to its parent planet.
Miranda has an escape velocity of 0.19 km/s, or 425 mph. A fast jet or passenger plane would be able to take off into outer space, if it had an atmosphere.
Some planetary scientists have called Miranda “the strangest moon in the solar system.”
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