A recent study points to an exciting possibility: Uranus’ moon Miranda may harbor a hidden ocean beneath its icy crust, potentially making it suitable for life.
Tom Nordheim of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and his team provide new insights into Miranda’s potential ocean.
In 1986, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft captured close-up images of Miranda, revealing a strange, patchwork landscape of deep trenches, towering cliffs and strange trapezoidal areas.
These features indicated a unique geological history. Scientists now think Miranda’s varied surface may be related to tidal forces generated by gravitational interactions with other Uranian moons.
Miranda orbits Uranus, a unique planet that is tilted almost sideways, resulting in extreme seasons: 42 years of daylight followed by 42 years of darkness at each pole.
Uranus’ atmosphere, rich in icy materials such as methane, gives the planet its blue-green hue, and the planet is home to at least 27 moons, including Miranda.
Nordheim’s team, including Caleb Strom of the University of North Dakota and Alex Patthoff of the Planetary Science Institute, analyzed old Voyager images and used computer models to investigate Miranda’s past.
Their findings to suggest that about 100 to 500 million years ago an ocean 100 kilometers deep could have existed beneath Miranda’s frozen crust, which is about 30 kilometers thick.
Surprisingly, Miranda’s ocean could have remained warm enough to remain liquid due to “orbital resonance” – gravitational forces that cause frictional heat. This phenomenon is also observed on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, where active geysers indicate a subsurface ocean.
Although Miranda’s ocean has thinned, it is probably not completely frozen. This discovery raises the possibility that Miranda could support life, but more data is needed to confirm the ocean’s existence.
To fully explore Miranda’s potential, scientists hope for future missions to Uranus. This small, icy moon could hold secrets to understanding ocean worlds and the potential for extraterrestrial life.
