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Miranda

34. Miranda

One of the great surprises of the Voyager encounter with Uranus was the incredible complexity of the terrain on Miranda, the innermost of the uranian moons. Miranda is only 480 kilometers (290 miles) in diameter, but it has unusual landforms that indicate a complex geologic history. The view shown here is a digital mosaic of nine images centered on the south polar region of Miranda. The oldest terrain has numerous craters and subdued relief indicative of long exposure to impacting material. The old terrain is cut by grooved and fractured areas such as the ovoid regions at right and left and around the distinctive “chevron” near the center. Some scarps have impressive dimensions, with as much as 20 kilometers (12 miles) of vertical relief.

Mosaic of Voyager 2 images (Press Release P-30230).

Right click here to download a high-resolution version of the image (932 KB)


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